Scars
by DarkHououmon
Summary: Ever since their formation, the Dino Squad have always managed to keep Veloci in the dark about their secret. But what would happen if he did find out? And what if he was far more capable than they initially thought? Despite what fairy tales may say, the bad guys don't always lose...
1. Responsible

Author's Note: This is an old story of mine that I completed a couple years back. It is my longest story ever. I do apologize if there's any grammar errors. I did do some editing to fix stuff up but I kinda stopped doing that about two years ago, so any mistakes I didn't fix, they're still there. Again I apologize.

Chapter 1: Responsible

The landscape was tranquil. The air flowed through the hundreds of trees that lined along the mountain side. Birds soared overhead, cawing out their calls to each other as they disappeared over the horizon. The sky was a perfect light blue, and clear save for one or two tiny white clouds, puffy and streaky at the same time. The sun lay directly overhead. Its yellow rays bathed the land in a warm glow, and a couple lizards crawled out of their den to sunbathe.

Then, without a single warning, the tranquility was destroyed as a roar echoed in the jungle.

RAAAAAAAAAAOOORRRR!

A large red foot stomped onto a tree, kicking it up from its roots and flattening it on the ground. The earth shook as this massive behemoth walked out. The creature was a Tyrannosaurus Rex, nearly solid red save for the couple white stripes that decorated its back. The creature's eyes glowed an unnatural yellow-orange, and it opened its massive jaws, revealing several different sized teeth. The lizards nearby looked up and quickly dashed underground before the monster could stomp its foot on them.

From underneath the T-Rex came another figure. This creature was much smaller and swifter, sporting a green hide with purple stripes and a white underside. It looked up at the enormous animal and screeched at it and attempted to look intimidating. It wasn't working. The Tyrannosaurus Rex merely looked at this animal, a Velociraptor, as though it were a meal, licking its scaly lips with anticipation.

The Velociraptor immediately retreated, running towards the safety of the jungle where the vines and thickly packed trees would surely slow down this behemoth. However it had little effect as the T-Rex effectively and efficiently cleared the path by using its body to push the trees aside so it could fit through. It snapped its jaws at the Velociraptor, but only ended up getting a mouth full of plants.

Wrinkling its nose in disgust, it opened up its maw quickly, allowing the leaves to spill out as it desperately drooled to get the awful taste out. As it hung out its tongue and shook its head, the green Velociraptor had managed to get away, heading towards a rock face that formed a mountain. When the giant dinosaur realized that its prey had gotten away, it looked up and spotted the raptor, apparently cornered. Almost grinning, the animal lumbered towards the helpless raptor.

The green raptor just hissed, backing up against the wall, as the larger predator stomped towards it. It let out another roar, one of triumph, and it gave into a sprint, and lunged at the Velociraptor. At the last second, the small carnivore jumped up, and landed on the big animal's head. It made a mad dash up the Tyrannosaurus's back and jumped off the end of its tail, and landed on the ground nearby. The T-Rex, looking infuriated, turned its body around to have another go. The green Velociraptor simply pointed a clawed finger towards the animal, and the T-Rex turned its head, and its eyes widened.

An ocean of orange ooze was erupting from the mountain. It was actually a volcano! The earth began to rumble as the eruption continued, and the ooze, burning hot to the touch, swept towards the T-Rex. It tried to run, but the ooze spread too fast. The raptor seemed to smirk as the strange lava now encircled the T-Rex, making even jumping an unlikely solution. The red-skinned T-Rex looked left to right, desperately trying to find an exit. But it could find none.

Then just as things could not get any worse, a massive eruption ejected several orange lava-covered boulders in the air, crashing in the area near the two theropods. The Velociraptor squealed as it narrowly dodged getting hit. The Tyrannosaurus Rex was not so lucky. Its massive bulk made it helpless to escape two boulders that slam into it. One smashes into its back, a second hits it in the head. The animal falls to the ground, and, in just a couple seconds, disappears into a short of pixels. A score is displayed.

10,000 POINTS

"What?!" came a groan. "That wasn't fair! You totally tricked me!" The voice came from a seventeen year old boy named Buzz. He wore an orange sleeveless shirt and dark green jeans. His head was bald except for a green mohawk that spiked along the middle of his head. He set his controller down, and leaned back in his chair. He turned to face his opponent, who sat in a desk on the other side of the room, a laptop set in the middle of it.

"I'm sorry, Buzz." The voice came, sounding feminine and elderly. She pulled the laptop cover down, turning off her computer. She appeared to be in her fifty's or sixty's. Her hair was gray and she appeared to be a bit overweight. She wore a green shirt with a purple vest and a long, dark purple shirt. She smiled sincerely at the young boy as she stood up from her desk, supporting herself with a wooden cane. "But it was important to teach you this lesson."

The punk teen groaned and folded his arms. "What lesson? The 'Do Not Dive After A Raptor' lesson?" He was not pleased to losing to a girl, especially since he played the game longer than his mentor, Moynihan, has. He only agreed to play with her because he thought he could win. After all, the old woman probably never played video games before and would probably have been easy to defeat. However, he had misjudged her, and paid for it.

Ms. Moynihan chuckled light-heartedly. "No. Don't you remember? This was supposed to teach you that you should be more aware of your surroundings. If you pay too much attention to your opponent, they could take advantage of that, and lead you straight into a trap." She pointed at the screen next to Buzz, which was now flashing Game Over in red letters. "Just like what happened in there."

"That was just luck." Buzz muttered, turning his head away.

"Oh don't be so sore about it." The old woman cooed as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Remember it is only a game."

"Yeah..I suppose you're right." The young teenager's frown turned into a smile. He looked at his teacher, and said, "It was a pretty cool trick you pulled. I guess you are better at games than I thought you were."

This was the first time Joanne Moynihan has trained any of her mutant students through the use of a video game. At first, she did not see any benefit of having such a game on her computer except for recreational reasons. But when she decided to play through the game herself, she saw a lot of potential in it for training, especially since the game contained the very dinosaurs they could transform into, and more. The training with Buzz was not a complete success, as he was not able to avoid the trap she set up for him. But it was not a total loss. He still learned something from it.

"So are you ready to join the others?" Joanne asked Buzz as she headed towards the spiral stairs. As she walked by, a small white dog with a few black spots lifted up his head. The dog wagged his tail as he quickly jumped up and dashed down the stairs. Moynihan did not fear him getting loose. The doors were all closed and the rest of the Dino Squad were down in the lap section of the lighthouse. Rump, the dog, would not be able to run off without one of the kids spotting him.

"Almost." Came Buzz's reply. "I'm just going to continue..training..on this online game." He picked up his controller again to start a new game on Multiplayer. Rodger had upgraded the game, so it now included far more dinosaurs and more levels to choose from. He selected his favorite avatar, the green Pteranodon.

Moynihan smiled gently. "All right then. You can play for twenty more minutes, then you have to get off." She started to climb down the stairs. "After all, you are not the only one I intend to train using that game."

"All right, Ms. M!" Buzz called out to her, although most of his focus was on this game. He flipped through the list of opponents that were online at this time. There was not a whole lot, which didn't surprise him. There was some sort of extreme sale going on in the mall nearby. He figured the locals would be attracted to it, so not many were near a computer to play this game.

Although Buzz did not mind. There was still a good number of people to challenge online, and he scrolled to try to find one that closely matched his skill level. When he came across one, he quickly put on his headset. He moved his mouse over the avatar, which looked like a raptor with a crest on its head. Buzz had never seen this kind of dinosaur before, but shrugged it off. A dinosaur was a dinosaur.

He clicked on the icon, allowing the avatar to enlargen. The dinosaur was a Guanlong Wucaii. It had a red crest with orange streaks. Its head was black in color with a red lower jaw, the color extending on the underside of its neck. A small feathery mane was centered on the nape of its neck, and a white streak went along the top and bottom of its eyes. Buzz clicked on Challenge, which would send an invitation to the user for a one on one battle.

"Hey! Raptor! Do you want fight me?" Buzz said into the speaker.

In a few seconds, the response came. "All right, sure. Ready whenever you are."

Buzz narrowed his eyes. The voice that came was feminine. "Another girl?" He was not looking forward getting tranced by another girl raptor.

The user, obviously annoyed and had taken offense to Buzz's remark, said, "And what's wrong with girl players? You think we can't play or something?"

Buzz's eyes widened. "Whoa! That's not what I meant at all!" The punk kid quickly said in an apologetic manner. "It's just that I got my tail kicked by two other users playing as Velociraptors, and they were both girls. I'm just afraid I'm going to lose again." Well that was only partially true. Buzz had been challenged by two Velociraptors, but he only lost against one of them. He won against the other, but he isn't sure if that could count, since it was really Victor Veloci.

Buzz frowned as the memories came back to him. When Rodger had first showed off the video game to the Dino Squad, Buzz had taken a huge risk and gave out more information than he should have. He should have realized he was being tricked by an online creep, but he was too busy having fun to realize that. And he was almost turned into Veloci's lab rat because of that. If Ms. Moynihan hadn't tricked Victor using the same technique as Victor did to trick him, Buzz probably would have never returned. He shuddered, not wanting to think about what it would be like to have Victor experiment on him.

"I'm sorry to hear that." The user responded. "But don't think this means I will go easy on you." She chuckled.

Buzz chuckled. "That's all right. I wouldn't have it any other way." The green-haired kid said, smiling in a determined way. "Now let's get this show on the road!"

The screen turned a bright blue for a few seconds, and quickly faded as the level loaded up. It was the ice level. Buzz groaned again. He had not trained for this level. He skipped that lesson, and now fully regrets it. In cold weather, his Pteranodon would lose body heat rapidly. But then again, so would the Guanlong Wucaii, so they were still on even playing terms.

The avatars loaded up. On one end, a green Pteranodon emerged, sporting an orange chest. It spread its wings proudly and screeched at the opponent, a Guanlong Wucaii, standing on the other end of the icy level. In edition to having an ebony body and red underside, it also had white rings around its tail and limbs. It responded with a cry of its own, sounding very raptor-like but had more of a growl to it than a raptor did.

"A..Gu-Gua..." Buzz started to ask, but couldn't get the word out.

"Guanlong Wucaii." The user responded, chuckling. "It was an ancient ancestor of Tyrannosaurus Rex."

Buzz grinned. "Whoa... That's wicked!" The punk teenager was surprised to hear this.

"Yeah. So..are we going to sit here chatting all day or are we going to play?" She asked.

"Oh yeah. I only have about twenty minutes to play so..." Buzz held up his controller and began his attack. The Pteranodon dove down towards the raptor-like dinosaur, its beak opening to try to cut into the smaller animal. The Guanlong Wucaii responded by jumping out of the way in time. It quickly whipped around and jumped on the pterosaur's back.

"No way!" Buzz said, his eyes wide with shock. The Guanlong Wucaii didn't waste anytime and sank its teeth into the neck of the Pteranodon. Buzz quickly maneuvered the flying dinosaur in between two closely grown trees. The theropod bonked its head against a low growing branch and fell off the pterosaur's back. "All right!" He quickly turned his pterosaur avatar around and dove towards the raptor again.

The Guanlong quickly ducked down, making the enormous dinosaur miss it by several inches. "Nice moves." The user playing as the Guanlong said. "But you will have to do better than that if you want to beat me."

"Oh don't worry, I will." Buzz said with confidence.

"By the way, I didn't catch your name. Er..your username I mean." She said quickly, sounding rather embarrassed. "My username is PreGuan20. That's short for Prehistoric Guanlong..I'm not sure why I added in the 20. Guess I thought it sounded cool. Anyway what's your username?"

"My username...?" Buzz said slowly.

"Don't tell me you aren't allowed to reveal your username." The voice came teasingly.

"Of course I can! It's Buzzinator." Buzz said.

"All right, Buzzinator," It was clear PreGuan20 found this username to be hilarious. "Either pick up the pace or you will end up like that poor creature over there." She was referring to a skeleton of a large sauropod that Rodger had programed into the game.

"In your dreams, Guan-girl! Time to get serious!" Buzz declared as he concentrated even more on the game, determined to defeat this girl.

Ms. Moynihan reached the bottom of the steps and approached the remainder of her students. Three of them were seated at the nearby table, looking over their weapons, or Rodger's Toys as Caruso would say. The students sitting down were Caruso, Fiona, and Max. Caruso was of a tall light build, wearing a white shirt and dark blue tie. He wore jeans of a reddish hue. His hair, as blue as his tie, spiked upwards through the use of hair gel.

Next to him sat Max, the jock of the team. He was the only member taller than Caruso. He was more muscular, and had very dark hair. He wear a white shirt with a green jacket and dark blue jeans. And next to him was Fiona, the active female member of the team. She had long red hair and wore a pale beige long-sleeved shirt with a dark brown open top and yellow-orangish pants.

The final member, Rodger, was over at another table, working on fixing one of the Chillers. Fiona had talked about it not shooting properly and Rodger suspected a clog of some sort. He was easily the largest of the team, and the only african-american. He wore a white sports shirt, sleeveless, with baggy black pants. His hair was black and extremely short.

The kids heard Ms. Moynihan's footsteps and turned to face her. Almost immediately, Caruso got up from his chair. "So is it my turn now?" He asked. Moynihan was planning on training the kids alphabetically, with Buzz being first. Caruso was next on the list, then Fiona, then Max, and finally Rodger. "It's been ten minutes already." The training sessions were to last only ten minutes each.

Ms. Moynihan frowned as she recalled that, and felt a little guilty. "I'm sorry, Caruso, but he wanted to play another round so I let him."

"What?!" Caruso exclaimed, his mouth open. "But you said this was only going to last ten minutes!"

Moynihan shook her head. "I know..." The woman said apologetically. "I'm sorry."

"So how much longer do I have to wait now?" Irwin Caruso asked, sitting back down in a pout.

Moynihan shook her head at this behavior. "Twenty minutes." She said.

"Twenty?! Oh man..." Caruso groaned, leaning back in his chair. "Now I'll never make it to the mall in time for the big sale! And I was so looking forward to that new hair gel too..." He earned a rough nudge from one of his team mates. He winced, and glared at Max. "Hey, what was that for?"

"For once, can't you just go through a training session without thinking about yourself?" Max scolded. "It's not like the world is going to end if you don't get that hair gel of yours in the next minute!" He groaned when Caruso turned his back on him.

"For me it will.." Caruso muttered.

"Come on, Caruso." Fiona joined in, showing her disapproval. "It's just hair gel. You can get it any day of the week. Perfect hair isn't as important as being ready to save the world. Why can't you ever understand that?"

Caruso whirled around to face her. "I do understand that! How can I not understand it when you guys keep shoving it down my throat every single day?!" He took in a few breaths before continuing. "Any time you guys want to do something for yourselves, everyone is fine with it! But whenever I want to do something for myself, you all scold me, saying how selfish I am!"

Max gripped the shorter teen by his shoulders and stared at him intently. "You know very well we only scold you if you put your own petty interests ahead of our mission, especially during a mission or training!"

Ms. Moynihan had seen enough. She walked towards the boys, swift for a woman her age, and pushed them apart. "That's enough you two." She said sternly. "I expect my Dino Squad team to behave better than that." She wasn't surprised in Caruso's behavior. He may have seemed vain, but he still cared about the team, and wasn't as selfish as he appeared. This was proven when he gave up being famous a couple times for the sake of the team. But she was a little disappointed in Max. She expected him to handle the situation better than that. "You two shouldn't waste your energy on each other."

"Ms. M is right, yo." Rodger said, finally looking up from the Chiller. "We should save that fighting energy when taking down Veloci and his goons, not wasting it on personal things, or on each other."

"Besides, Caruso," Joanne said gently, "twenty minutes isn't that long of a wait. It will even go by faster if you keep your mind occupied on something."

Caruso slowly sank back into his chair. "Oh yeah? Like what?"

"Well, I could tell you about my final battle with Victor Veloci." Moynihan suggested. It would be an entertaining story indeed, and could easily take twenty minutes, if not longer, to tell. She knew it would peak her students' interest, since she rarely talked about her early battles with the anthropomorphic Velociraptor. "I think you may find it quite entertaining." She said, smiling.

"Oh?" Caruso looked up.

"All right then, Ms. Moynihan, let's hear it." Max said. Rodger had set down his tools and came towards the table.

"You've peeked my interest, Ms." Rodger said, smiling as he sat down in a chair across from Max.

"All right." Moynihan sat down near the students. They all gave their full attention to her, waiting for her to start telling her story. "Here it goes." She said as she began her tale.

FLASHBACK:

"Hold still!" Yelled a man holding what appeared to be a gun. But instead of bullets it shot out a blue laser. "I can't neutralize your dinosaur powers if you keep moving around like that!" The man had long black hair with red streaks. He wore a red corporate outfit, looking like an important figure. But looks were deceiving. He was Victor Veloci. He was no friend to mankind. He dreamed of the day humanity was wiped from the face of the earth.

He blasted again, narrowly missing a swift moving green raptor. The raptor leaped over him, and lunged from behind, knocking Victor on the ground. She quickly grabbed the gun from his hand and tossed it away. She changed back. It was Ms. Moynihan, though at this age, she was a bit taller, skinnier, and had dark hair. She picked up the gun and pointed it towards Victor, who glared at her.

"What's the matter, Vic?" Joanne said mockingly. "Can't you fight without your precious toys?"

"How dare you say that, Joanne..." Victor seethed. "You should know me like a book now. I don't need that weapon to fight you."

"We'll see about that." Moynihan placed her finger on the trigger. When Victor started making a run towards her, she pulled it, but only heard a click. "What?" She looked at the gun carefully. She noticed the safety lock was on. Her eyes widened. Victor must have turned the safety on before she knocked it from his hands! It was a distraction, meant to preoccupy her long enough so he could...

Moynihan looked up, hoping she could prepare to dodge him, but she did so too late. As soon as she looked up, she felt herself being slammed into the ground. She looked up, and growled. She was now pinned to the ground by her former partner, Victor. "You tricked me."

Veloci laughed half-heartedly. "I had no choice, dear Joanne..." He leaned in a bit closer. "It was the only way to deal with a traitor like yourself..."

"I am no traitor, Victor." Moynihan declared, trying to get him off of her.

Victor bared his teeth, now transformed into sharp canine-like protrusions. "Liar! You betrayed me to be with the..the.. HUMANS!" He said the last word with pure hate in his voice. "You betrayed someone of your own species for these inferior monkeys!"

"If you would just open your eyes, you would see the humans are not as bad as you..." Moynihan tried to explain. She was stopped short when Veloci slapped her across the face, causing her to yelp, and look up at him in shock. He had never done that to her before.

Victor showed no remorse for what he's done. "I'm sick and tired of you saying that everything will work out! Don't you get it, you fool?! Nothing will work out until the humans are gone!"

"Why shouldn't we share the planet with them?" Joanne said cautiously. "After all, they didn't become dominant overnight. It was no fluke, don't you know. Why can't you see they were meant to rule the planet? If they weren't, they would have died out a long time ago."

"They were just lucky!" Victor spat out. "That's all there is to it. They got lucky! They should have died in the Ice Age! The world rightfully belongs to the dinosaurs." His eyes started to glow. "And I'm furious that one of my own BLOOD does not see that."

"The time of the dinosaurs is gone, Vic! Can't you see that? They are never coming back! Your mutant DNA will never be able to bring back the dinosaurs!" Joanne transformed her legs and kicked Victor in the stomach. The Velociraptor man fell to the ground. She slowly rose to her feet, and looked at Victor with determination. "And if you are going to continue to try to defy nature, I will continue to fight you. I will stop you!"

"Such foolishness coming from a once proud dinosaur." Victor said. "It seems these filthy humans have gotten to you. Look what happened to you. You've become just like THEM! All right then, if you're going to act like a human, then you will be treated like a human..." An orange symbol on the form of a Velociraptor, positioned on the left side of his chest, glowed a bright orange. He grew taller, his teeth grew sharper, his mouth grew longer. His clothes disappeared, replaced with scales. Now in Velociraptor form he licked his chops. 'I always thought humans tasted like chicken...'

Joanne took a fighting stance. "Bring it!" An orange symbol on her left shoulder, another Velociraptor, glowed, and she too changed form. Her clothes melted into green scales, a purple crest appeared on her head, and her hands and feet sharped into claws.

Now two Velociraptors stood on either end of the rocky and messy battle field. A green Velociraptor with purple stripes and white underside and a red Velociraptor with black stripes and a pale beige underside. They began to circle each other, their glowing eyes never leaving the other's. They growled and snarled, flexing their muscles. But neither made a move. They instead studied each other, trying to calculate the other's strength.

'Just because I've institutionalized myself with the humans, don't think I've grown weak.' Moynihan stated, her lips curling back to reveal her gums and razor sharp teeth.

Victor opened up his jaws in a dinosaur-style laugh. 'You've grown too soft... You don't have your primal advantage anymore...'

'Oh we'll see about that...' Moynihan held out her arms in a manner a human would if they wanted to hug someone. But to a Velociraptor, it was an invitation to battle, and a threatening posture. Victor accepted the challenge and ran towards her. His maw opened up, saliva spilling out the sides of his reptilian lips as he snapped his jaws at his opponent. Moynihan made a dodge to the left, and struck Victor with her hand, and managed to knock him to the ground.

The red raptor shook his head as he got back to his feet, and slammed against the green raptor's side, knocked her down. He quickly stepped on her and bent down. He tried to bite her, but she pushed his snout away with a clawed hand. She kicked him in the stomach again with her feet. But when she tried to get up, Victor managed to grab onto her back. She screeched as she felt his sharp talons dig into her skin as she fell back down with him.

She desperately kicked away at him, but because he was now on her back, she couldn't reach him with her feet. Struggling onto two legs, she turned her head around and tried to snap at Victor's head. She didn't quite managed to reach him, but managed to land a hit on one of his hands. His eyes snapped open as he let out a screech of pain.

RAAAAAAAAAAA!

He quickly let go of her and backed up a few steps. This gave Joanne the opportunity to head butt Victor in the chest, causing him to stumble backwards, but he did not fall down. Victor looked at his hand. It was a bit shredded, and blood was pouring out. He glared at Moynihan hatefully. He snarled as he gave her his next message, one that nearly sent chills down her spine.

'All right then, fool... I was considering in letting you live, but after this...' Victor held up his shredded paw. 'I will make sure you don't live to see your next birthday! I will make sure you don't leave this place.. alive! You will die at my feet!'

'Wait!' Joanne cried. 'It doesn't have to be this way!' She suddenly regretted attacking him like that. When Victor really gets angry, he only becomes stronger. And when he declares something, he means it, and won't stop until he's fulfilled that statement. She quickly sidestepped when Victor tried to tackle her.

'I'm sorry. But this is the way it has to be. This is what I must do..' Victor said calmly. 'It is what I must do...' He managed to tackle her this time, pushing her against the rocky earth. 'I'm not being cruel, Joanne. I'm just being reasonable.'

'If you're being reasonable, then you'd let me go!' Joanne said angrily.

Victor ignored her. He lowered his head towards her neck, intending on snapping it with his jaws. He opened up his mouth and set his jaws around her neck and began to apply pressure slowly. He could feel Moynihan struggling in his grasp, trying so hard to knock him off. He responded by sinking his teeth into her faster. He was getting close now. His grip was sturdy. All he needed to do was give one quick twist, and it was all over. But something..something just didn't feel right about it. Could he really go through with killing one of his own kind?

He felt like he had to. She did betray him. No, not only him, but all of dinokind. He would never be able to bring back the glorious dinosaur rule with this traitorous raptor around. She knew him too well. She could warn the humans about him. She knows too much. She had to be disposed off... But then again, she couldn't possibly reveal his secret identity without revealing her own. And what if he did something to her..something that if she were to explain would expose her secret? Victor knew how paranoid the human race was. He could get them to turn on Joanne, make her go back to him. He smiled. He liked that idea better.

Victor released his grip on her neck. 'I've got a better idea.. Why should I end your life when I can make you come over to me?' He lifted up his eyes, and started to find a more suitable target. He decided to go for a leg. A leg would do nicely.

'And how are you going to do that?' Joanne asked, her glowing eyes trying to see what he was about to do.

'I'll give you something to remember me by.' Victor sneered, then snapping his jaws on her left leg, at the ankle, at full force. Joanne roared as she felt the white hot pain in her leg. Victor worked his teeth deep into her leg, feeling and tasting the blood as it seeped from the female raptor's leg and into his mouth and along his lips. Once he had a good grip, he gave a sharp twist.

CRUNCH!

The sickening sound of bone snapping filled his head. A pain filled cry of agony escaped Joanne's mouth as Victor got off of her. Moynihan quickly changed back into her human form and pulled her leg towards her. Despite the transformation, her injury remained the same. Her left foot now faced an odd angle. She couldn't even touch it without crying out in pain. She looked up at Victor as tears of pain flowed down her face.

Victor changed back, and looked at her, his eyes narrowed unsympathetically. "Don't look at me like that. I had no choice..Maybe this will teach you a lesson..."

"You monster..." Moynihan managed to say through her pain. "You..you think this will stop me?"

Victor only chuckled in response. It was clear who won this battle today. Joanne hung her head in defeat, shivering from the intense pain she was in. Victor just stood victoriously, smiling down at her in satisfaction...

END FLASHBACK:

Ms. Moynihan finished her story. It was clear, from the look on her face, that this was a really hard story for her to tell. Even though it's been a few decades, the memory of it still haunts her, still pains her. She could still feel the pain of Veloci's jaws on her leg. This is why she carried out a cane. While it had healed, and she gained most use of it back, it still hurts sometimes when she walked, and now has to, sometimes, rely on the cane to help her.

The kids stared at her in awe, their mouths and eyes wide open. Moynihan was right. The story was entertaining. But it was also sad. In the end, the bad guy had won, despite Moynihan's determination. And she still had the scars of that battle.

Caruso opened up his mouth to say something, but only managed out one word. "...whoa..." Suddenly, hair gel and the computer game was no longer on his mind.

"Wait a minute..." Max spoke, pushing himself upwards from his chair with his strong hands. There was something about Moynihan's story that just didn't add up to him. "How could breaking your leg make you 'go back to him'? Wouldn't that just make you less willing to join up with him again?"

Joanne looked up. "A valid question, young Max. You see, Victor knew that I was an honest person. A bit too honest, really. And he knew I couldn't explain my injury to a doctor without lying, if I wanted to hide my and his secret identities. He was hoping that I would reveal the truth, and be forced to join him once more." She chuckled light-heartedly. "But as you can see, I didn't fall for the trick."

"So what happened afterward?" Fiona asked, her hand held out in a human mannerism that signified she wanted her to continue her story. "I mean, how did you manage to get to safety with such an injury?"

"I probably would have died there if some workers hadn't come onto the scene. They helped me to a hospital where my broken leg was treated." Moynihan explained. "They said I was really lucky. If my leg was twisted just a bit more, I would have likely lost the leg entirely."

"Ouch..." Rodger grimaced, eyeing the mentor's left leg sympathetically.

"Oh don't worry about it." Ms. Moynihan said, trying to lighten up the mood a bit. "It was about thirty years ago that happened. We shouldn't dwell on past matters now." She then remembered about Buzz. She looked up to glance at the clock hanging on the wall. She got up from her seat and headed towards the door. "Come on Caruso, it's your turn. The twenty minutes has passed." As she made her way towards the stairs, Caruso, a bit slowly at first, got up from his seat and followed her. He knew better than to disobey her, although she has never been harsh with them before.

"Ahhh!" Buzz screamed as he narrowly dodged one of PreGuan20's attacks. She had managed to get her avatar behind his and almost ripped one of the Pteranodon's wings to shreds. Luckily, at the last minute, he performed another maneuver, this one sending the Guanlong Wucaii smashing into a tree. "That was close!" He could feel his hands were getting really sweaty. This girl was even tougher than Veloci was! And he almost didn't believe that. "But it'll take more than a cheap trick to take down the Buzzinator!"

"Well, Buzzinator, prepare to lose!" PreGuan20 declared. The Guanlong Wucaii had already recovered from its headlong collision with the tree, and was now back in action. Screeching almost like an eagle, it made a dash to where the green pterosaur had retreated to. The Pteranodon had flew inside a slippery ice cavern. As the Guanlong entered, it struggled to stop as it started to slip along the ice.

Buzz grinned. This is exactly where he wanted to lead PreGuan20. If Ms. Moynihan could trick him into going too close to a volcano, he knew he could trick this female gamer into going into an ice cavern after him. He had judged the Guanlong's feet were not designed for such surfaces, and he knew that PreGuan20 had not had much experience in this level. She had told him so herself. And since he was playing as a flying dinosaur, he had the upper hand in the cave. "Got you right where I want you!" He quickly started mashing buttons on his controller, turning the Pteranodon around from a sharp and dark corner, right to where the raptor-like dino was slipping and sliding.

The opponent didn't have much of an option now. She could no longer defend herself, and she couldn't turn around fast enough or efficiently enough to stop him. The pterosaur flew in fast, the wings outstretched as it dove. Within seconds, the beak collided with the Guanlong Wucaii, and made a critical hit. The Guanlong Wucaii reared its head up and roared as the avatar disappeared, and a score appeared across the screen.

5,000 POINTS

"Yes! I just whooped your prehistoric tail!" Buzz exclaimed happily, leaning back in his chair, his arms outstretched as though he was preparing to give someone a big hug.

The user on the other side forced a chuckle. It was clear she was not happy about loosing. But it was a fair game and all. And she shouldn't expect to win all the time. "That was a good game, I admit." She said after several seconds. "That was some trick you pulled, luring me into that ice cavern. Maybe we could play again sometime?"

"Oh sure, of course!" Buzz said cheerfully. "It was a blast playing with you."

"It was a blast playing with who?" asked a voice behind Buzz. Eyes wide, Buzz whirled around to see Moynihan and Caruso emerging from the stairs. Caruso was trying hard not to laugh. "Did you meet a new girlfriend or something?"

Buzz glared at Caruso. Sometimes he just couldn't understand that boy. "She's not my girlfriend!"

Caruso grinned. "Ooo...but she's a giiiiirrrlll..." The blue-haired taunted playfully. "You should so give her your phone number!"

"Don't fight you two." Ms. Moynihan was again annoyed. She didn't want to have to deal with even more of these problems. She glanced over at Buzz. "It's Caruso's turn. He's waited long enough. You can go back downstairs with the others."

"All right." Buzz turned back to the monitor. "I've gotta get going now. So see ya later!"

"See ya." PreGuan20 said, and then the connection died. The screen went back to the main title screen. Caruso had that mischievous grin on his face, but quickly wiped it off when he earned a glare from Buzz.

Buzz got up from his seat. As Buzz went towards the stairs, Moynihan continued, "But don't tell them about the..surprise." She winked.

"Huh...? Oh! That surprise!" Buzz grinned sheepishly. "Don't worry, Ms. I won't." He began his descent down the stairs, chuckling to himself as he imagines Caruso falling into Moynihan's trap like he had, possibly even quicker. Knowing Caruso and his big ego, he was sure to slip up very easily. He noted to himself to take a picture of Caruso after his humiliating defeat. It would be a sort of revenge on Caruso's teasing just a few moments ago.

As Caruso went towards the chair, he looked out at Buzz with a quizzical look on his face. "A surprise..?" He looked at his old-aged mentor. "What surprise? What are you guys talking about?"

Joanne Moynihan gently pushed Irwin into the seat. "Sorry, but I can't reveal that. You will have to find out for yourself." She walked back towards her desk and opened up her laptop computer. She logged back onto the website, and prepared to set up the duel. "So are you ready, Caruso?"

Caruso tentatively picked up the controller. "Yes, I'm ready."

"So Buzz," Max asked as his punk friend sat back in his chair, "How was it?"

"It went well." Buzz said. "At least I passed anyway..I think.. I mean that..." He quickly stopped himself. He almost disobeyed Moynihan. Luckily the others didn't seem to notice the abrupt ending of his sentence. "She was right of course." He said quickly. "It was an excellent way to train."

Rodger chuckled. "I knew my video game wasn't a waste of time." He couldn't help but feel ecstatic that Moynihan had chosen his game to be part of their new training program. While it was not the same as training physically, it was a safer alternative. There were situations presented in the game they have not yet encountered, but may have to sometime in the future. Why risk their necks training in the real situation when they could just play a simulator and be better prepared that way? And who said video games were a waste of time?

"Sure wasn't." Buzz grinned at his large friend. "It was really helpful. I..."

"So Buzz, I hear you got yourself a girlfriend." Fiona said teasingly, though to a less extent than Caruso said it.

"No I don't I..." then it hit Buzz. "Wait a minute! How do you know I was playing against a female gamer?" Fiona chuckled as she pulled out her cellphone and opened it up. She sat it on the table and pushed it towards Buzz, who then picked it up. On the little screen, it had a picture of Caruso grinning, and next to it it said 'hey buzz has a grlfrnd online'. Buzz gritted his teeth. "Why that...I'll kill him!" He started towards the stairs when Max grabbed him by the arm.

"Just let it go." Max said. "He's just teasing you."

Buzz sighed. "All right..." He let Max guide him back to his seat. "So..." He said, trying to start up a conversation to pass the time. If Moynihan spent ten minutes on each of them, it means they'll be here for about an hour, longer most likely due to his extra time on the computer. "What did you guys talk about while I was up there?"

"Well..." Fiona said. "She told us about her final battle with Victor. He almost ripped her leg off."

"Whoa...no way..." Buzz said, eyes opened up wider. "How did that happen?"

"She was battling with him, and he managed pin her down, and broke her leg with his jaws." Max explained.

"The doctors said she was lucky she didn't lose it." Rodger said.

"Oh man..." Buzz grimaced, mentally picturing a near crippled woman in his mind. He stared down at his own legs, not wanting to imagine what it would be like to have a blood thirsty raptor tearing at them.

Without warning, a scream filled the air. The Dino Squad jerked up with a start, preparing for battle. Then another scream, this one sounding more like a word. When they recognized what it was, they started to giggle a bit.

"NOOO! NO IT'S NOT POSSIBLE!" Came Caruso's voice from upstairs. It was apparent that he had already lost to Moynihan. It has only been about three minutes too.

Buzz laughed, and took out his cellphone. "Oh I gotta take a picture of this!" He dashed back up the circular stair case. Fiona, Max, and Rodger looked at each other, not understanding why Buzz would want to take a picture of Caruso.

After a few seconds, they heard Caruso shouting, "HEY! COME BACK HERE WITH THAT!" Then they heard the pounding footsteps of people running down the stairs rapidly. In a matter of seconds, Buzz was back in the lab, holding his cellphone in his hand. Right behind him was Caruso, lunging at Buzz to get the cellphone. "YOU ARE NOT GOING TO SHOW THAT TO ANYONE!"

"But you told Fiona that I had a girlfriend!" Buzz said in a playful tone. "This is just me getting back at you!" He tossed the phone to Fiona. "Take a look!"

"DON'T LOOK!" Caruso screamed as he lunged at Fiona, who just sidestepped. He fell to the ground.

On the cellphone screen was Caruso. He was sitting in the seat, still staring at the monitor. His eyes were wide as saucers, his mouth wide open. His hair looked spikier, like a cat that felt threatened. His face was red in anger and frustration. Fiona chuckled. "Awww.. Caruso, you look so cute when you're angry!"

Caruso blushed intensely as she said this, and the others started to laugh about it. He glared at Buzz, and declared, "I will get you for this!"

"We're even now." Buzz said, grinning mischievously.

In another part of the United States, in a large city, bustling with activity, a red helicopter, armed with sharp teeth along the front, giving it the appearance of a dinosaur, casted a shadow over the city. It approached a tall building in particular, and landed on the roof. The doors opened up, revealing a tall, handsome-looking man. It was Victor Veloci. He had just gotten back from a search. He was attempting to locate his perfect dinosaurs in Maine. That is where that punk kid Buzz said he saw the perfect dinosaur.

But it wasn't like he could get information from him now. The kid was probably eaten by the Pteranodon, and when Victor tried getting back on the game, it told him he was banned. He was annoyed, but he shrugged it off. He would just have to find some other way to track down his perfect dinosaurs. He had to admit, it would have been nice to have captured Buzz too. He could have forced more information from him. Maybe he even knew where the dinosaurs' lair was.

But regardless of where the dinosaurs were, he found it puzzling that none of the humans have been giving any solid evidence or reports on it. Surely these creatures weren't stupid enough to miss a dinosaur, something that big. There had been some reports, but they were all talking about how there weren't any dinosaurs, that it was just a stunt, or balloons, or whatever. He seethed silently at this. Even when the evidence was out in their face, they still believe it was all fake. They refused to believe their own eyes.

But still, not all humans were that stupid, he had to admit. There would have been at least a few humans who would have tried to report the truth. But so far he found no such person. He had found no leads as to where his perfect dinosaurs were spotted. They appeared in various locations, not just in Maine. And they were the same ones as well. They were the same species, the same colors, the same sizes, and they always seemed to appear wherever his primordial ooze. They were the ones neutralizing his experiments. He theorized it was because of their perfect genes. They were probably canceling out the effected genes.

But what he didn't understand is how they could appear in so many states in such short periods of time. This wasn't normal migrating behavior for these dinosaurs. Maybe the landscape was just confusing them. It has been over sixty-five million years and a lot has changed in that time. Even if humans had never appeared on the planet, the continents would not have stayed the same. They would have shifted, and the weather would have changed as well.

Regardless, he had considered the puzzling issue of the dinosaurs traveling so far so quickly. There would have to be some logical reason. And why would they be traveling together? If anything, that T-Rex should have tried to eat the Stegosaurus or the Styracosaurus. The Pteranodon should have flown off and the Spinosaurus would either challenge the Tyrannosaurus Rex or attacked the Pteranodon. And yet in the times he's met up with the dinosaurs, this has yet to occur. It was very strange indeed.

He was pondering this as he entered his lab. It was a fusion of modern human technology and the prehistoric Mesozoic Era. Victor took pride in the design, as this was the closest to home he could feel in this modern world. He headed towards the computer and sat down in the chair. The huge monitor in front of him was displaying a map of the United States. He scanned all around, but the computer was not picking up anything on the dinosaurs he so longed to capture. "Still nothing..." He growled under his breath. "They always appear and disappear as though by magic. How is that possible?"

He slowly gazed up at Maine, and leaned back in his chair. He was sure the lair was there, somewhere. His thoughts slowly unraveled the events that occurred when he saw that yellow SUV. It had some sort of trace of something in it. He couldn't tell exactly what it was. He recalled how the Stegosaurus suddenly appeared, and gave away his position. Then the other perfect dinosaurs showed up and freed the Stegosaurus when he nearly captured it.

Why had the Stegosaurus showed up? All that lay ahead was some useless lighthouse. And it seemed as though it was trying to protect the SUV. That didn't make much sense to him either. A dinosaur would never protect a human... Well most dinosaurs wouldn't anyway. He knew of one dinosaur who would...

"Joanne Moynihan.. Somehow I'm sure she's involved with these dinosaurs." Victor said as he put his hands together. "And I'm sure she's the reason I can't track these dinosaurs. Anytime I get a clear shot of them on my monitor, it goes static. It can't be a coincidence." He chuckled darkly. "Oh you're clever, Moynihan. But not as clever as me."

If Moynihan really was the reason he couldn't track the dinosaurs, then all he would have to do is locate the source. If he could find out where the radio waves are coming from that are blocking his monitors, he could track down Moynihan and capture her. Or he could at least override her attempts to block him. Yes, that sounded a bit easier for him.

He looked around his lab and spotted the large containers of primordial ooze he had stored up. None of them contained genes perfect enough to accurately transform anything. He had already tested them. But something had to have perfectly mutated the dinosaurs. There had to be something that ooze had that the others did that. But just what was that? To find out, he needed to locate the dinosaurs and capture one of them, just one of them. Then he could perfect his experimental DNA and really change the face of the world.

Just then, his phone rang. He picked up the receiver and placed it against his ear. "Victor Veloci speaking. Who is this?" he said, trying to sound polite. Despite his hatred of humans, he hasn't shown too much hostility towards his henchmen, since they all agreed to turn into dinosaurs and help him take over the world. He didn't see the need of killing off humans who shared his vision, or submitted to his will. After a few seconds, he suddenly sat straight up. "What? Are you sure?" He asked carefully.

The voice on the other end confirmed their statement. "I'll be right there!" Victor quickly got up out of his seat and hung up the phone. He had just received a phone call from one his men. They had just interrogated some kid, who claimed to have been trying out for the Raptors football team. He had mentioned that he saw some kid transform his arm into the leg of something bluish purple, and scaly. He could be making this up, but he might as well talk to the kid to get more information from him. This was the biggest lead he has had in a long time. If this teen knows enough, he could soon capture all the perfect dinosaurs...

The flight took him back to Kittery High, where the football field lay. The helicopter landed nearby, since it would be strange for a dinosaur-like copter to land on school property. He climbed out of the helicopter and walked towards the mens' locker room, where one of his men was standing next to a teen, still in his football outfit. As he saw Victor walk in, he quickly stood up. "S-Sir, I..." He was unsure of how to talk to the high-ranking man standing before him.

"Please, no formalities." Victor raised his hand, making the young human stop. "Don't be nervous. Just tell me what you saw."

The teenager swallowed quickly. "W-Well, sir, I was trying to tackle this other player in front of me, and then he told me to talk to the hand, and then he changed his arm into a leg."

Victor cocked an eyebrow. "Could you describe it?"

"Well, it was scaly, purple..or maybe blue.. had really short stubby toes." The football player answered.

Victor recognized this description. He recalled his perfect Stegosaurus had such legs. "Tell me..did you see any..plates form on his back?"

"Now that you mention it..." the player said. "I did, for a split second. I heard someone say ouch, and thought I saw what appeared to be a reddish plate growing from his back."

Reddish plates were also present on the back of the perfect Stegosaurus. Victor was almost certain now. This football player could very well be his ticket to capturing all the perfect dinosaurs! But still, he would have to find someway to confirm this. He couldn't just walk up to the guy's house and ask for a blood sample. That would be too suspicious. And besides, he didn't even know what this guy looked like, or knew his name.

"Could you tell me anything about this guy? His name? His appearance?" Victor asked.

"Oh yes, of course. He's Irwin Caruso. He goes to this school, hangs out most of the time with some friends." The football player said, sitting back down. "He wears a white shirt with a dark blue tie, and his hair is spiked upwards, dyed blue. You'd recognize it."

"Irwin Caruso." Victor repeated, memorizing the name. "Thank you for the information." Now all Victor needed to do is figure out a plan to get a blood sample from Irwin to confirm his suspicions.

"That's enough of this childish behavior!" Moynihan said as she stood between Caruso and Buzz. For the past hour, they have been constantly bickering at each other. Moynihan tried to focus on training the other students upstairs, but sometimes the arguments go so loud it just distracted her from the training session. After she failed to complete the training with Rodger, she has had enough. She had stormed down the stairs, something she has never done before, especially given her weak leg.

Moynihan had also never really yelled at them before, but Caruso and Buzz had pushed her patience. She calmed herself down before continuing to speak with them, but they could tell she was still angry with them. Caruso and Buzz backed away from each other. "Is there any reason why you two are wasting so much energy fighting each other? You two aren't enemies, don't ya know? I would expect such childish behavior from two-year olds, but not from teenagers such as yourselves. You should be mature enough to know better."

"But, Ms. Moynihan, he won't erase that embarrassing picture he took of me!" Caruso complained.

"I only took it because you wouldn't stop calling PreGuan20 my girlfriend!" Buzz spat back.

"I was only teasing you! I can't believe you were taking me seriously!" Caruso exclaimed.

"And I can't believe you thought I was serious when I said I was going to post this on my blog! You know I agreed not to post any pictures of us on the web!" yelled Buzz.

Professor Moynihan groaned, rubbing her temples with her fingers. This arguing was starting to give her a headache. Trying so hard to keep herself calm, she gave both boys a stern but gentle look. This caused them to shut their mouths. When Moynihan looked at them like that, they knew they had better listen to her. They walked back to their seats, and sat back down. They refused to look at each other however. Moynihan smiled softly, but was still upset with their behavior. "You two seem to be forgetting that you are supposed to save your fighting energy for Victor Veloci. You will need all of it, don't you know?"

"Yeah yeah..." Buzz muttered.

"We know." Caruso said.

"If you ever have to fight Victor, remember this. You will need all the willpower you have. He has his ways to make humans like you submit to him. Don't waste all this energy on petty arguing. Save it up in case you need to use it against Victor." Moynihan tightened her grip on her cane. "I hope such a day never arrives, but if it does, remember what I just told you."

"Like Victor will ever find out about us." Caruso said, almost laughing.

"With the way you try to transform for fame, I wouldn't doubt he'll find out." Rodger said as he finally came back down the steps. He was busy testing out a new level in his game.

"Do you honestly believe that I will be the one responsible for Victor find out our secret?" Caruso asked, raising his arms in the air. Everyone in the room except Moynihan nodded their heads. "I can't believe this... I'm being blamed for something that hasn't happened yet!"

"Calm down Caruso." said Fiona. "No one is blaming you for anything. We're just saying..."

Caruso growled. "I know what you're saying. You're all saying that if Victor catches us, it'll be completely my fault!"

Moynihan placed a hand on Caruso's shoulder. "Perhaps it's time for you and the others to go home. It is getting late anyway. Perhaps sleep will help calm your nerves." She said in an almost motherly way. She hated to see the children upset. She smiled softly as she felt Caruso relax his shoulders and breathe a sigh of defeat.

"All right, Ms. Moynihan." Caruso said.

"Oh man, I promised my folks I would be home about ten minutes ago!" Fiona said, running towards her motorcycle and hopping on. "Goodnight!"

"And I need to help out my folks with the garage." Max said as he hopped on his motorcycle. "See ya, Professor Moynihan!"

As Buzz and Rodger got on their motorcycles and said their goodbyes, Caruso lingered behind a little. He placed his hand on his bike, and was about to get on. But something was stopping him. Something was on his mind. He turned back to Moynihan, who was still standing there. He sighed, and walked back towards her.

Moynihan frowned slightly. "Is something the matter, Caruso?" The woman inquired.

"Do you think they're right?" Caruso asked. "Do..you think Victor will find out the truth..because of me?"

"Oh don't worry about what the others said." Moynihan said in a comforting tone. "They're just as capable of exposing the secret as you are. All it would take is one slip up. Anyway don't worry so much about it. You should get some rest now."

"All right." Caruso said. "Goodnight, Ms. Moynihan." With that, Caruso got on his motorcycle and drove away.

Moynihan smiled, and closed the door. She heard some kind of beeping coming from the computer upstairs. She hurried up as fast as she could and made her way towards the computer she had used to train her students on. She closed down the game and opened up another menu. It was a map of the USA, similar to Victor's. The radar had picked up something.

She couldn't suppress a gasp as she recognized the symbol flashing on the screen. It was Victor's symbol. He was coming back to Maine. And to make matters worse, it looks like he was heading straight towards Kittery High. "Oh no..."

She swiftly picked up a phone and dialed Max. He was assigned second-in-command after all. The phone rang twice and she heard a click, and then a voice on the other side. "Hello?" Max asked. "Who is this?"

"This is Mothersaurus." Prof. Moynihan said.

"What is it?" Max asked.

"I just picked up something on the radar." Moynihan said, sounding concerned. "Victor is coming to Kittery High."

"What?!" Max said breathlessly. "Why? Is he going to try to spread his mutant monsters or mutant plants again?"

"I wish I knew, Max." Moynihan said. "But I regret to inform you that I do not know what he wants at Kittery High. Maybe he wants to interrogate some students and..." Her voice trailed off. Her eyes gazed on the date the monitor displayed. She started to shake visibly, and she almost dropped the phone in her hand.

Max noticed the abrupt stop and became concerned. "Is something wrong?"

"He isn't heading towards Kittery High... he's already here." Moynihan said, barely above a whisper.

Now it was Max's turn to gasp. "What?! He's already here? Why would he go to Kittery High?"

"He must know something, but..I can't think of what...except..." Moynihan trailed off again. There was something that happened at Kittery that Victor Veloci may have found out about. There was the football tryouts that Caruso and Max participated in. Caruso had been using his dinosaur powers to cheat so he could please his parents. He admitted to not using a whole lot, but could Victor of spotted him somehow anyway? Or could one of the students reported the strange behavior directly to Victor? "Oh no..." She breathed.

"Do you know why he came?" Max asked worriedly.

"I think I do..." She said. "I think he's coming for Caruso."

"What..but why... how did he... Oh no.. the football game!" Max slapped himself in the face. "Someone must have seen it..and they must have told Victor! What are we going to do, Ms. M?"

"I'm not sure at the moment. I doubt he knows where any of you kids live, so I suspect he'll be at the school tomorrow to find Caruso. Tell the others to keep an eye out for him. If you see him, try to behave like you normally would. Don't draw attention to yourself. " Moynihan explained. "Tell Caruso if he sees Victor, to just get away. Chances are whoever told Victor what they saw may have also given a description of him. We can't risk Caruso getting spotted."

"Will do, Moynihan. Max out." Max said. Then the phone went dead.

Moynihan hung up the phone, and looked out the window at the darkened sky. She felt her heart grow heavy. What were they to do if Victor knows the truth? And what if Victor found her there? He didn't know she worked as a teacher at Kittery High. Even in her old age, he'd still recognize her by scent. Would he single her out as well? She shook her head. She shouldn't have to worry. As long as Caruso stayed hidden, and she and the others acted casually, there would be no reason for Victor to suspect anything. She prayed he would be discouraged and leave disgruntled and disappointed.

"Good luck to us all." Moynihan said as she turned out the lights and headed to the bedroom. Rump ran up next to the couch and curled up next to it, and went to sleep.

The next day, the Dino Squad, now in Kittery High, were gathered in the library, where they hoped to discuss the situation without drawing attention to themselves. They all sat at one table together, a couple times looking around to make sure no one was watching. Caruso folded up his arms angrily.

"I still don't understand why I have to go running like a chicken." Caruso said a bit bitterly.

"Because, Caruso, Victor might know you can turn into a dinosaur, and if he catches you, he could force information from you." Max tried to explain.

"I doubt that player got a good enough look at me for..." Caruso started.

Fiona interrupted him. "But we can't take that risk, Caruso. Max is right. The best thing you can do is hide anytime you see Victor. Don't let him see you. Who knows? He might even recognize you from what the football player told him, provided that's what happened anyway.

"See?" Caruso stated. "Even you don't know if that really happened at all. Maybe Victor was here for another reason. Why should I get myself all worked up over nothing?" Buzz opened up his mouth to give a remark of his own, but stopped when Rodger gave him a nudge.

"Look, Caruso, this is serious. Victor is here, in our school. If he knows anything, anything at all about what what happened...we just can't risk it. We don't want you to get hurt." Max said as gently and firmly as he could. "And we don't want to jeopardize the team. If something happens to us..who'll save the world from Victor Veloci?"

Caruso growled softly. "I can take care of myself!" The blue-haired teen said, sitting up from his chair. "I don't need to be babysat!"

"We're not babysitting you, Caruso." Rodger said. "We just want you to keep out of harm's way. We're just trying to help you."

"Yeah, Caruso. Don't be so sour about." Fiona chimed in.

Caruso sank back in his chair. He had to admit, he did seem to make a big deal out of this. They were speaking the truth after all. They were just worried about his welfare. And not just his welfare, but the safety of themselves, and others. He didn't want to believe Victor might know he was a dinosaur. But if he did know, he couldn't really risk getting spotted. If Victor did know what he looked like, and if he saw him, he could come up with a valid excuse to get him alone.

"All right..." Caruso said softly, giving into his friends. "I promise I'll hide if I see Victor rearing his ugly head my way."

"Promise?" Max said, his hand on Caruso's shoulder.

"I promise." Caruso said, managing a small smile. "Don't worry about me. Victor won't know I'm here."

At that moment, the school bell rang. The group of teens looked up at the nearby clock. Science class was going to start soon. They knew they better pack up their things and get going. Prof. Moynihan didn't like to deal with tardy students. Max pushed himself away from the desk and slowly rose up to his feet. "Well, time for class." He said as the others got up from their seats as well. One by one, they started to walk out of the library doors. Science class was on the other side of the building. They would have to move quickly if they wanted to get there before the doors closed and the class started.

After Fiona, Buzz, and Rodger left, Max stopped in the doorway, and realized Caruso hadn't left yet. He turned around to see Caruso had sat back down. The jock groaned slightly. He didn't have much time to waste. He was about to walk out the door, but stopped himself. Giving another groan, the teen walked back to the table, and put his hands on it and leaned towards Caruso. "Hey, it's time to go class. Are you coming or what?"

Caruso looked up at Max, appearing confused. "I thought I was supposed to stay hidden."

"Not during Science class. Remember, we're all in that class. If Victor knows anything, he wouldn't try to..." Max tried to explain.

"Well you do have a good point there." Caruso said, smiling a bit. He then frowned a bit. "So what am I supposed to do the rest of the day? Maybe I should just call in sick and go home."

Max was growing a bit impatient. If they didn't hurry it up, they would be late for class. And what if Victor spotted them on the way there? It wasn't like he didn't have the power to make them come with him. Surely he would have spoken with the teachers, and they probably gave him permission to do that if he felt the need to. The only place they were really safe was Ms. Moynihan's class. And they only had a couple minutes now to get there.

"Listen, Caruso. We'll try to discuss this in Ms. Moynihan's classroom." Max said, trying to pull Caruso from his seat. "It's going to start soon, and we don't want to get caught in the hallway. Victor might spot you and try to take you with him. He's probably convinced the teachers to allow him to do that."

"So..why doesn't he just tell them to send me into an office alone with the vicious raptor?" Caruso said sarcastically, trying to hide a grin.

"Don't give him any ideas." Max hissed. He roughly pulled Caruso out of his seat and started to drag him out the door with him. "Now let's go."

"All right, but can you at least let me go?" Caruso complained. "I have legs you know."

Max released his grip on Caruso and they started down the hallway. Hordes of students were walking in every direction, heading to their respective classes. It was unusually crowded this day, making navigating the hallways even more difficult than usual. Max and Caruso had to push and squeeze their way past many other students who are trying just as hard to get through themselves. Caruso felt himself being pushed back a little. Grunting, he managed to squeeze through two more students, and Max was not having an easier time himself. He was nearly knocked in a whole new direction because of a student that wasn't paying attention to where he was going.

Caruso suddenly felt himself being pushed up against a locker due to another group of students walking his direction. He looked around to try to find Max, but he had already disappeared down the hallway. Caruso knew there had to be only about a minute left to get back to his class. He pushed his way through the crowd and tried to follow Max's direction. But with so many students desperately trying to reach their own class, Caruso didn't notice he was being herded in another direction, and towards another part of the school.

Max arrived at Moynihan's class just in time. As he walked in, the bell had rung again, and everyone else was already seated down. He made his way to his seat and sat down. He looked at Ms. Moynihan as she was starting the class. Today's subject seemed to be about DNA again. This past week she seemed to want to focus on DNA and genes in general. Max didn't mind. He was pretty good on this subject. So were the others, well except for Caruso. Caruso may have been good with sports, and good with looking good in general. But he was no whiz when it came to subjects like Science and Math.

He chuckled softly and looked behind him to greet Caruso. Caruso would sit next to Buzz in class, and they were at the top row. But his smile cleared away when he only saw an empty chair. Where was Caruso? He was right behind him in the hallway, and Caruso knows very well where Ms. Moynihan's room was. It wouldn't be like him to get lost. Maybe he was just lagging behind a bit, yes. That had to be it. Max tried to calm himself down and turned back to the teacher as she pulled out some slides to begin the class with.

The class had started now. The jock was trying to focus on the teacher, and tried to follow along with what she was telling them. But his thoughts kept going back to Caruso. About ten minutes had passed already, and there was still no sign of him. He was never this late. He would sometimes be caught in the bathroom, putting in hair gel for several minutes, trying to make it look good. But he wasn't vain enough to be more than ten minutes late, could he?

Max eyed the remaining team members. They each gave him the same worried look. Something just wasn't right. Caruso should have been here by now, and yet they hadn't heard the door open, or hear one of his usual excuses of being late. And Max could tell Ms. Moynihan was looking worried as well. Several times, she would quickly glance up at the door, expecting Caruso come in. But since she was in the middle of teaching, she couldn't just leave the class to find Caruso. This wasn't an elementary school. This was high school. The students were should be responsible enough to show up in class at the right time.

Ms. Moynihan was thinking of calling up the principal to let him know there was a student wandering the hallways. But she decided against that. She didn't know when or if Victor was going to be in the school at any given time. If she told the principal, the principal would speak over the intercom, telling Caruso to go the office. If Victor happened to be inside the building, he would hear that, and he could make his way towards the office to catch up to Irwin. She couldn't take that risk. She trusted Max had given Caruso the warning, so he would know to hide if he spotted Veloci.

Buzz fumbled with his pencil and glanced again over at the empty seat where Caruso was supposed to be sitting. He couldn't imagine what was taking him so long. The hallways indeed crowded today, but that shouldn't have been a problem, right? They've dealt with crowds like that before, and still made it to class on time. But on the other hand, he had noticed it was a bit too crowded today. He couldn't really figure out why, though. There weren't anymore students today...Then it hit him. He recalled some classes had switched, making more students go in one particular way, which would contribute to an increased difficulty of navigating the hallways. If Caruso was caught up in that crowd, he could have been pushed towards another part of the school...

"Hey, what's wrong?" asked a voice from someone below him.

"Oh..hey McFinn." Buzz greeted. McFinn had been moved to a new seat after the bullying incident, and he no longer picked on Buzz. While they hadn't been that close of friends, they now respected each other. "I'm just worried about Caruso. Have you seen him?"

McFinn, the chubby student, shook his head. "I'm sorry, I haven't. Why?"

"No reason. I'm just...a bit worried about him." Buzz said before turning his attention back on the teacher. He didn't want to get detention for talking in class, and neither did McFinn.

Caruso panted as he leaned against a broad door. "F-Finally..got here." He heaved slowly as he tried to catch his breath. The bell had already rang, and he knew he was so very late. But he hadn't run into Victor at all in the hallway, and once he entered the room, he would be out of Victor's sights, at least for the next hour or so. He fumbled with the door handle and turned it. He opened up, about to call out to Moynihan, but he shut his mouth at the site.

The room was completely dark and empty. The room didn't look anything like Moynihan's. Instead he saw instruments strewn across several desks and on the walls. Music sheets were plastered on the wall, and the room in general was of a different color. One of the windows was shattered due to a baseball incident. Caruso looked around the room. Unless Moynihan suddenly changed profession, he was clearly in the wrong room. The music class was nowhere near the Science room. He must have taken a wrong turn.

"Oh no..the guys are gonna kill me..." Caruso grumbled as he shut the door and turned around. He looked down the hallway, and tried to remember where he needed to go. He had gone to this school for a couple years now, so he should know his way around by now. But today, today was different. He must be getting as worried about Victor as the others are. He had to laugh it off. Although he agreed to hide from Victor if he saw him, he still refused to believe Victor would recognize him. Oh sure he's seen his face before, but not for very long. The first time Victor laid eyes on him and his friends was when he used a trick to fool Victor into thinking one of his own men was crazy. He remembered how Veloci reacted to that. He had scared off that one guy when he mentioned something about dinner. Caruso pondered what happened to that guy.

He suspected Victor probably ate the poor guy. Just the way he was looking at him just made him shudder a bit, feeling sorry for that guy. In a way, he couldn't blame him for running off like that. He felt relieved, at that moment, that Victor didn't know that they knew he was a Velociraptor. Victor was still hiding his secret identity from the world, and, despite how much it bothered him mentally, he had to continue acting like a human. The only ones who knew his secret identity was his own henchmen, the Dino Squad, and Ms. Moynihan. And they had to keep it a secret themselves, for if the truth were to come out, Moynihan had feared that more harm would come. The people may not understand, and label the Dino Squad, not just Victor and his goons, as the enemy.

But he pushed it aside. He had to stop thinking about that insane Velociraptor now. "Okay..so if Music class is here, then Science class should be..." He told himself as he made his way back towards the library where he had been about fifteen minutes ago. He stopped in front of the doorway, and looked down both hallways that branched out a few inches past the library doors. "Then Science class should be... down here." He made a turn to the right. "Man, how am I going to explain this to Ms. Moynihan?"

"Ms. Moynihan?" said a voice behind him. Caruso stopped short. He recognized that voice. But he couldn't act so suspiciously. He slowly turned around and saw Victor Veloci standing there, leaning against the wall. He was smiling at the young boy, and was making no threatening gestures. He didn't make a move towards the boy, nor did he try to lure the boy to come near him. Instead he just folded his arms, and asked, "Who is Ms. Moynihan? Is she your teacher?" Victor asked softly.

"I..." Caruso started, but Veloci interrupted him.

"And why aren't you in your class? Wouldn't she be angry with you?" Victor asked, trying to make himself sound concerned. He was trying his best not to sound angry or annoyed when talking about Moynihan. He was not expecting to hear her name while in this school. So this is where she was hiding the whole time. She had disguised herself as a school teacher. If he didn't think she was institutionalized before, this would surely change his mind. Moynihan had disappeared from his sights about thirty years ago. He wouldn't be surprised if this is where she was hiding the whole time.

Such a coward she was, Victor believed. He recalled how furious he was when his initial plan to bring her back hadn't worked. In fact, it only made her worse. It made her even more like the humans. She had become even closer to them than before. And this, working as a teacher, was proof. Teaching the next generation of humans... Victor couldn't think of anything lower for a Velociraptor to be part of. The Joanne he knew wouldn't waste time on humans. She would follow him, no matter where he went. And now the humans had brainwashed her... The thought of it sickened him.

"Well..." Caruso broke his train of thoughts. "You're probably right." He said hurriedly. "I'd better get back to class now. So if you don't mind, I best be going now." He suddenly felt someone stop him, a hand gripping his shoulder. He looked up at Victor, and asked, "What are you doing?"

Victor tried to look as concerned as he could without appearing suspicious. "You seem..troubled. Is something the matter?"

Irwin let out a sigh and turned his head away. "Oh nothing is the matter, sir. "

"Oh come now..surely there must be something bothering you." Victor said, trying to coax the teen to relax his shoulders. Victor didn't want to make his move if the teen was too tense. Drawing blood without being noticed wasn't going to be easy. He couldn't very well just order a blood draw from the kid. That would appear too suspicious. He would have to get a tiny amount. A tiny amount would be enough, and he could do that without the use of a needle. Oh sure he could have just sent a mutant mosquito after Caruso, but insects aren't known for their intelligence, and it would surely feed on more than one student.

"Well I should be heading back to class anyway." Caruso said, trying to get himself away from Victor.

"Then let me walk you to your class." Victor offered, gently pushing Caruso towards the door he was headed. Caruso gulped, but tried not to show his nervousness. Victor was just leading him to the door that's all. Maybe he really hadn't recognized him.

When Caruso wasn't looking, Victor slowly transformed three of his finger nails into raptor talons. He slowly applied pressure as they got closer and closer to the door. With a quick flick of the wrist, he broke the skin, and three small cuts were now present on Caruso's shoulder. Caruso let out a yelp. "What was that?" He said, looking at Victor in shock.

Victor attempted to look apologetic. "Oh dear..must have slipped." He said, his bloodied hand now behind his back. "I apologize." He backed up away from Caruso, and turned toward where a student would walk if they were going to exit the building. "This concludes my visit to Kittery High."

Caruso frowned slightly. "What were you doing here?" asked the young blue-haired student. "I thought big businessmen like yourself had better things to do than visit high schools."

Victor chortled at this remark. "Right you are, boy. But you see, I heard reports of something..strange going on here. But I guess I listened to the wrong reports." He shrugged. He had been disappointed many times before anyway. He just learned to deal with it. "Anyway, I must get back to my company, Raptor Dyne, before they begin a search party for me. Pleasure doing business with you, Irwin Caruso."

Caruso gaped. "Wait..how did you know my..." But when he turned around, Victor was gone. "..name..." Man, when he wanted to make an exit, he was really quick about it. And pleasure doing business with him? What was Victor talking about? He hadn't even gotten any important information. Maybe it was just his way of saying farewell. But..he hadn't said that the last time they had a run-in with him, or any other time.

Victor was already out of the door and walking towards his van. He smirked as he looked at his still transformed hand. There was some blood on them, enough to have his scientists test them for dinosaur DNA. He opened up the door to his van, and hopped in. "Let's head back to the lab. I have something I want the scientists there to test for me."

"Yes sir, Veloci." responded one of the drivers as they turned the vehicle on and drove away from the school.

Victor eyed the school one last time before closing his eyes and laughing to himself. "Caruso, truly you are the key to help me complete my dream." He was fighting against his raptor instincts to lick the blood on his fingers. The sheer smell was starting to get to him, but he would have to try his best to ignore it. This would probably be his only chance at getting a blood sample.

"And if you turn out be a Stegosaurus, just like that football player said, then you will be my first guinea pig..." Victor said silently, almost as though he was warning the student. "And with you, I will find the others..."

Caruso placed a finger where he felt the sharp pain. He winced a little. It wasn't that bad, but it still hurt nonetheless. He pulled his finger up and saw a few dots of red. That idiot had cut him! He couldn't understand why he would do that. Maybe he really did just slip up and accidentally cut him. Victor may have been feeling really angry and transformed involuntarily. No, that wasn't like Victor at all. As he pondered this, he reached for the door with his other hand.

Suddenly the door opened up, and he almost collided with another student. "Whoa..watch where you're going, you clumsy..." He stopped when he realized who it was. "Oh Max! I'm sorry! I didn't know it was you."

"Where have you been?" Max asked sternly. "Moynihan just sent me out to look for you."

"I was just...in the bathroom..." Caruso said.

"Caruso...don't lie." Max warned.

"Okay, I won't lie..." Caruso looked at Max straight in the eyes. "I'll tell you exactly what happened. I got lost, that's what happened! Thanks for leaving me behind."

Max narrowed his eyes. "Why didn't you try to keep up?" The jock folded his arms.

"What did you think I was trying to do?!" Caruso complained. "I was trying to catch up to you, but there was just so many people, and you disappeared so quickly...!"

"Why didn't you just call us on your cellphone?" Max asked.

"We aren't allowed to use our cellphones in class, remember?" Caruso folded his arms as well.

"Well that surely didn't stop you, now did it?" Max growled softly.

"I..." But he knew Max was right. Caruso had turned on his cellphone in class once. He was out of hair gel, and needed to order some more. But he couldn't wait until class was over. Instead, he had picked up the nearest phone, his cellphone, and called up a store that delivered. It was in the middle of one of Moynihan's lectures. Needless to say, he was caught shortly afterward and his cellphone was confiscated for the rest of the day. "Well I learned my lesson after that, so..."

Max had to laugh at this. "Oh no you didn't. Remember the time when you called the hospital in the middle of the class because you thought you were balding?" Caruso blushed a bit at this comment. He was right after all. Last month, he had done such a thing. He saw a few hairs on his desk and jumped to conclusions that he was balding. He considered it a medical emergency and had dialed up the hospital about it. People still joke about him involving that incident, and the hospital still doesn't take him that seriously because of that ridiculous phone call. While he didn't lose his cellphone, he had earned detention for disturbing the public or something like that. He couldn't remember what the reason was exactly.

"I would have been back in class sooner if Victor hadn't..." Caruso started, and this really caught Max's attention.

"Victor?! He was here?" Max looked a bit horrified, and relieved that nothing happened to Caruso. "Did he see you?" Caruso nodded his head solemnly. "Why didn't you hide?"

"Like I could. He saw me before I saw him, and if I ran away, that would just make him grow more suspicious. Anyway I didn't think he recognized me. He didn't try to lead me away or anything. He just..walked me up to the door." Caruso explained.

"And that's all he did?" Max said. "He didn't do anything else?"

"Well, he did call me Irwin Caruso..." Caruso explained.

"What?!" Max gripped his shoulders. "He knew your name? You didn't tell him your name did you?"

Caruso gritted his teeth in slight pain. The cuts were a bit more painful than he had initially believed. "No..I didn't." He tried to push Max's hand off his shoulder. "Ow! Don't touch me there, please." Once Max's hand was removed, he gently rubbed the sore area with his hand. "It stings." Max narrowed his eyes, and gripped Caruso's hand and pulled it from the shoulder. He pulled the collar of the shirt until he could see a reddish tinge in the skin, along with three small cuts. There was still a bit of blood coming from them, but it didn't look too serious. Still, this alarmed Max.

"Victor slashed you." Max released Caruso. "He walked right up and slashed you."

"I don't think it's that serious..." Caruso said. "It's just a little cut. It was probably just an accident."

"No..you know when it comes to Veloci, it's never an accident." Max said seriously.

"Still..." Caruso started, but a look form Max shut him up.

Max turned back to the door. "Come on, we should head back in class. Ms. Moynihan said she'll let this incident slide, just this once, considering the circumstances. When we get to the lighthouse today, tell Moynihan what happened."

The two students walked into the classroom. A few students look up at them, but most of them were continuing with their work. Moynihan temporarily stopped to look up at Max and Caruso. She gave a quick smile and nod, acknowledging them. She looked relieved that Caruso was now in the classroom. So she continued to focus on her work.

Caruso walked up to his seat and sat down next to Buzz, who gave him a quick nudge. "What is it?"

"So where have you been? We were worried about ya." Buzz asked, tapping his pencil on his paper. "I mean you were gone for a pretty long time. Did you run into Victor?"

"If you must know, then yes I did." Caruso replied after a few seconds. Buzz opened up his mouth to say something. "But I'll tell you about it when we get to the lighthouse okay?" Buzz nodded, and Caruso leaned back in his seat as Ms. Moynihan continued the class.

After ten more minutes, she stopped, and sat back down on her seat. She shuffled some papers on her desk and set them aside. She cleared her throat to address the students. They put down their pencils and looked at her, awaiting for her to say what she needed to tell them. She eyed the door, as though she was expecting company. "Class, I have an announcement today." She said, interlocking her fingers and placing her palms on her desk. "We have a new student starting today. She just moved in the neighborhood and this is her first day of class, so I hope you all make her feel welcome."

The door opened up, and a single figure walked in. She had short curly hear of an auburn shade. Despite the warm weather outside, she was dressed in a red sweatshirt and darker red sweatpants. She gave a friendly smile as she strode through the door, down the steps in the middle of the classroom, and walked up to Ms. Moynihan. "Hello am I in the right class?" She asked in a polite manner.

"Yes of course." Moynihan said before addressing the class. "This is Michelle. I would like one of you to volunteer to help her out on the assignment today. Do I have any volunteers?" She looked around the room, looking for someone she felt would be suitable for this task, although it was simple. She finally let her eyes fall on one student in particular. "Buzz, why don't you help out our new student?"

"Oh, sure, Professor Moynihan." Buzz said. Michelle made her way up the steps and sat in the empty seat next to Buzz. "Hello, Michelle. My name is Buzz and.."

"I know." Michelle interrupted him. "I heard the teacher call you by your name." She chuckled.

"Do you find my name funny?" Buzz asked.

"It reminds me of someone I met online yesterday. He had a name, very similar to that one." Michelle explained as she pulled out her new Science book and tried to find the chapter they were currently on. "Buzzinator or something, he called himself."

The punk teen gasped. He stared at the new student for several seconds, almost not believing what he had just heard. And that voice, it sounded so familiar... "Hey Buzz! What's wrong?" He heard Caruso ask him, who was shaking him a bit by the shoulders. Buzz shook himself back to his senses and looked at Caruso. "What's the matter with you? Why did you daze off like that?"

"Dude..it's her." Buzz whispered, pointing at Michelle. "She's the one I was fighting on that game yesterday."

"No way..." Caruso whispered, staring at Michelle for himself. "What are the odds of this?"

"Ten thousand to zero?" Buzz had said randomly, looking back at Michelle.

Noticing the two boys were staring at her for no apparent reason at all, Michelle frowned and folded her arms. "What are you two looking at?" She didn't like getting stared at, because when people would look at her that way, it was usually because they wanted something, and it would usually involve something she didn't want to do or have any part of. And to make things worse, this time it was two guys staring at at once.

"Nothing." Caruso and Buzz said in unison. Michelle just rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulders in a manner that said she either didn't believe them or she didn't care. She picked up her book and started to skim through it.

"We're on this chapter." Buzz said as he leaned forward to show her his open book. She looked over and took note of the page numbers.

Michelle nodded and flipped through the pages until she got to the right one, page one hundred twenty. She narrowed her eyes as she read the chapter title. "DNA and Genes. Great, my weak subject."

"You can always ask for help, Pr—I mean, Michelle." Buzz offered, nearly calling her by her username. Luckily he caught himself and stopped. And Michelle didn't seem to notice. She just gave him a nod, and the class continued on as usual, with the occasional incident of Michelle having to ask Buzz for help. It was her first day, so it was permitted, but she knew that the next day or so she would have to be on her own. She couldn't keep asking for help.

Unbenownst to everyone in the room, except for Michelle herself, her foot glowed, and transformed into a scaly black leg with sharp talons. She stretched the talons, spreading the toes apart. As she glanced over at Buzz, she quickly changed her foot back, narrowly missing him catching her changing. She may tell someone about this secret, but for now, she'll have to keep her mouth shut. However, someone did see the transformation. Caruso's eyes widened but he kept himself quiet, except for a whisper.

"...another one...?" Caruso spoke softly.

After school was over, the Dino Squad walked out of the building. They headed towards the rack where their fancy motorcycles were. No one in the school questioned them about them. The usual comments were that they looked cool. Victor would most likely just think the kids were big dinosaur fans, and probably wouldn't make the connection between the bikes and the perfect dinosaurs. Fiona walked up to her Spino-Cycle and knelt down to unlock the chains connecting it and the other bikes to the rail.

Rodger was busy drinking a can of soda he got out of the school's soda machine. It had gotten hotter as the day went on, and he was dehydrated being in the school all day with little to drink. Once the last bit of soda was gone, he wiped his brow, crushed the soda can in his hand, and tossed it behind him. It landed in the trash can.

Max still had his sports uniform on, and his helmet was still on his head. He reached up and unbuckled it and pulled it off, carrying it on his side. He stood next to his Tyranno-Cycle and set down the football helment and picked up the motorcycle one instead, and placed it on his head. Fiona put her helmet on her head as well.

Buzz and Caruso were walking side by side. They were the last ones to reach the bike rack, and they weren't looking where they were going. Their eyes were on each other, glaring, focused. Max sighed. They were arguing about something again. As the bickering teens got closer, their words became more and more audible over the sound of other students bustling around.

"I'm telling you, I saw her change!" Caruso pointed at Buzz accusingly. "Just because you didn't see it doesn't mean it didn't happen!"

"Look here, dude, just because she's new doesn't mean you have to go making up stories about her!" Buzz said, attempting to defend the new student, Michelle.

"All right you two." Max walked up to them, wanting to stop them before things got ugly. "What are you two arguing about now?"

"Knowing them," Fiona chuckled in her helmet, "it isn't anything that important. Probably have something to do with hair again."

"Or the cellphone." Rodger chimed in, his hand on his mouth as he giggled. "Maybe Caruso sent him another message."

"No!" Buzz pointed at Caruso. "He said Michelle transformed her leg during class!"

Caruso growled. "But it's true!" The blue-haired teen held out his hands as he tried to reason with the others. "It didn't last very long, but I saw one of her feet turn into a dino foot, black and scaly... You've got to believe me, I wouldn't make this up!"

"But..we're the only ones that got infected with that dinosaur DNA, remember?" Fiona inquired. They had all got infected by diving into that specific part of the water. And they didn't see anyone else dive in. No, if what Caruso said was true, there would have to have been another way. But what other way could there be other than direct contact with the contaminated ooze?

As Rodger picked up his helmet, he decided to have his input. He had his own idea of how it would be possible for someone else to have been infected. "There could be a way for that to happen, Fiona."

"What do you mean?" Max asked, walking back to his Tyranno-Cycle.

Rodger said, "What I mean is it might be possible to get second-hand exposure to the primordial ooze that infected us." When the others gave him a quizzical look, he gave a sigh. "Well it's like second-hand smoke. Even though you aren't smoking it, you can still get sick from inhaling the smoke from the cigarette."

"But I still don't understand." Buzz placed his helmet on his head. "How could she get second-hand exposure if she just moved here? We were the only ones who jumped into the water to go after that stray dog."

"Buzz has got a point there, Rodger." Fiona said thoughtfully.

"Is it possible she got it some other way?" Max asked.

Caruso threw his arms up in the air. "She must have! She transformed, I swear!"

"Well," Max jumped on his bike. "We'd better tell Moynihan about it. Let's roll!" The Dino Squad hopped on their motorcycles and made their way back to the lighthouse.


	2. Deception

Chapter 2: Deception

"So are the tests back yet?" Victor asked as he sat at his computer. He had arrived several hours ago with a blood sample from Caruso. He was now waiting for it to be analyzed. Normally this kind of test would take a few weeks, at least by normal human means. But Victor had created a technology that would detect dinosaur DNA in a few hours. After sitting down for a few hours, he started to feel a little uncomfortable and started to shift a bit in his seat.

"Negative sir," said one of his minions. "But it shouldn't be too long."

"I've been waiting here long enough." Victor's nictating eyelids closed, and when they reopened, they were just tiny glowing spheres of yellow with a black background. The minion backed away immediately and hurried to where the scientists were. Victor's eyes changed back to their human state and he leaned back in his chair. That would hurry things up a bit.

Before long, one of the scientists came out with a sheet of paper with the DNA patterns on it. He stood next to Veloci, and said, "Sir, we found some...rather unusual traces in this kid's blood. I think you may want to take a look at this."

Victor grabbed the sheet of paper and looked through the data written on it. At first he didn't see anything really unusual about it. The DNA was typical of that of a modern human, and there were no unusual spikes in it. But as he skimmed further, he did notice a change. There was an abnormal pattern hidden deep in the kid's genetic code, one that didn't resemble anything he's seen in a human. He peered closer to try and recognize the pattern.

The odd DNA looked a bit..thicker than the rest, and appeared a bit flimsy, as though it didn't fit perfectly in the DNA code. And yet it stayed there, unmoving, as if it was glued there. As he read down the paper further, there was a description of the strange DNA, including the acids that made it up. And he recognized the pattern.

"..Stegosaurus." Victor whispered, narrowing his eyes. "Caruso has Stegosaurus DNA in him."

It was starting to make sense to him now, and memories started to flood back to him. The talent show, the park, the abandoned building, the motorcycle tracks.. oh why hadn't he noticed this before? Why hadn't he put the pieces together? How could he miss something that was so..obvious? He crumbled the paper in his hands as he seethed with anger. "I've been such a fool. The answer was right in front of me the whole time."

He couldn't track the dinosaurs not because they were too perfect. He couldn't track them because they weren't really pure dinosaurs at all. They were just teenagers that could turn INTO dinosaurs, and apparently at will. He didn't know how they gained control of their forms so easily and so quickly, but he would worry about that later. Regardless of them being human, their dinosaur forms were still perfect, not any bizarre mutations.

He then recalled the lighthouse again. There would have to be some signifance with it. The Stegosaurus..no Caruso..he had tried to stop him. The yellow van was heading towards the lighthouse. There had to be something special about that SUV. Maybe Caruso's other dino-transforming friends were in the van, yes. Yes, yes that had to be it.

And the lighthouse...that must be their lair. That must be where they gather, where they keep their instruments, their tools, everything. And if the students knew about his plans to take over the world, if they knew how to neutralize the ooze he spreads, then someone must have trained them. Someone who knows his plans, knows the way he thinks, knows about the primordial ooze.. Someone like... Joanne Moynihan! It figures she would be the one training these teenangers.

And the incident involving the park, when he had punished one of his men because he thought he tricked Victor by trapping five children. Now that Victor thought of it, his men have never intentionally lied to him before. And he had spotted some dinosaur tracks in the vicinity the following morning. Due to him still being sore with his employee, he paid him no mind when he reported he spotted the dinosaur tracks mixing in with human ones. If the children could turn into dinosaurs, that would very well explain how they were able to fool him so easily. Those clever little tramps... Moynihan had indeed taught them well.

Then something else started to add up, something he had suspected before. He knew that Moynihan was almost as clever as he was, maybe even more so in some ways. When they were partners, she had displayed remarkable talent in human technology. Even after thirty years, this knowledge would not have waned. Victor did recall that, anytime he got a perfect dinosaur in the sight of his satellites, the picture would go static. He had thought it was just bad luck or coincidence. But now it seemed it was a deliberate act of sabotage. Someone was preventing him from seeing the perfect dinosaurs, and no doubt it had to be Ms. Moynihan. He had already suspected this before, but now, knowing that Caruso could turn into a Stegosaurus, his suspicions were confirmed. Moynihan was protecting these kids.

"I knew it. She really is blocking my satellites. Well now..." Victor said as he started to type on the keyboard. He clicked a button and it enlargened several times, showing the Kittery area. He followed the road down a ways. If his suspicions were correct, then when he would try to view the lighthouse, he would see static.

And sure enough he did. The screen went black and white noise filled the screen. This proved it, he believed. It really was Moynihan blocking out his satellites. He now had the location. Victor grinned evilly. "I gotcha, you little traitor..."

"That was close..." Moynihan whispered as she closed the lid on her laptop computer. The computer had alerted her that Victor was trying to scan the lighthouse with his technology. She didn't understand why, since as far as she knows, Victor doesn't know there's anything special about the lighthouse. And the Dino Squad hadn't arrived yet, so there was literally no dino activity. Either way, she couldn't let him detect any of her equipment in the building, or else they could be in big trouble. That crazed Velociraptor could easily trap them in the lighthouse. There wasn't a lot of room to run around, and it was dangerously close to a ledge.

The only advantage they would have being trapped inside is that they would know the building better than Veloci, and possibly better able to trap him that way. Victor probably has little idea of all the weapons Moynihan actually had. There were even some she kept secret from the children. It was for their own good. These weapons were far too dangerous for youngsters to play around with. Only she had ever operated them, as she was the only one with the knowledge necessary to activate them and control them safely. The only other one who might have the skills necessary is Victor Veloci.

But she didn't believe she had much to worry about. She had been hiding from the male Velociraptor for thirty years. The odds of him finding her now were relatively slim, near zero. But according to humans, the more time passes, the higher the chances of something occurring. If they were right, then Veloci's chances of finding her may have doubled now...or tripled. She drew in a deep breath as she grabbed her cane and scooted her chair back. It was almost time for the Dino Squad to arrive for their daily training.

As if on cue, she heard knocking at the door. "I'm coming!" She shouted as she made her way towards the door. She turned the knob and opened it, and was greeted by a familiar group of five teenagers. "Hello. Come in, come in." She said, smiling. It was nice to finally have her mind on something other than Victor. Her students walked in, their motorcycle uniforms now off. Max and Rodger immediately sat down on the couches to relax while Fiona went over to greet Rump, who had been waiting patiently for the team to arrive. Caruso and Buzz, on the other hand, were still arguing about Michelle. They had been arguing on the entire ride to the lighthouse and was driving the other members insane.

"What are they arguing about?" Ms. Moynihan asked as she sat down in a chair and set her cane aside. Her voice was more that of annoyance rather than concern. It seemed the boys hadn't learned their lesson from yesterday.

"Caruso keeps trying to explain how he saw the new student transform into a dinosaur." Max said.

"Well it was just her foot... but still, I'm not sure how it's even possible." Fiona said.

"I told you, second-hand exposure." Rodger said, looking up from a magazine he had brought with him.

"I still don't believe it." Fiona said as she scratched Rump behind the ears. "It just sounds too unbelievable...isn't that right Rump?" Rump barked happily and licked her hand.

Joanne smiled and slowly shook her head. The reality of it hadn't quite set in yet. At first she just thought it was another prank or joke. She was about to start the lessons until she thought about the kids' words again. Had they just mentioned something about transformation? She looked back at them again, and made her way towards Caruso and Buzz, who looked like they were about to kill each other.

"Quit defending your girlfriend! She's a dinosaur!" Caruso yelled.

"She's not my girlfriend! And you're a dinosaur too! Does this mean I shouldn't trust you?!" Buzz yelled back, forming fists with his hands.

"Oh you want to fight now?" Caruso got into a fighting stance. "Well bring it!"

"Settle down, you two! It is clear you did not learn anything from yesterday, have you now?" Moynihan rapidly tapped her can on the floor to express her displeasure. This got their attention. Slowly, they relaxed their fists and let their hands hang loosely at their sides. "Have ye forgotten what I told you yesterday? About not wasting such energy on each other over ridiculous reasons?" She was now standing right next to them, her frown not lighting up as she looked back and forth between them. "What is it about this transformation that you two seem you have to argue over?"

Buzz and Caruso looked at each other, pondering on what they should tell the teacher. "Well..." Caruso began, "..during class, I saw that new kid..what's her name? Michelle?" Joanne nodded her head. "Well I saw her transform her foot."

"Yeah, but I'm sure he's just making it up." Buzz shrugged. "I mean, no one else saw it."

"No one, with the exception of a few, have ever seen you transform into dinosaurs." Moynihan explained. "Does that mean you aren't real?" She asked them and awaited a response from her mutant hunting team.

"But...how could there be another dino-human mutant?" Fiona walked over, holding Rump in her arms. "Weren't we the only ones who got exposed to that mutagen?"

At this question, Moynihan frowned slightly. She turned her head away, slightly bowed. She knew this day would come. There was something about Veloci's DNA experiments that she had never told them before. She regrets keeping it a secret for so long. She should have told them on day one. She should have warned them about the true extent of the DNA's powers. "There's...something I didn't tell you kids before, about that DNA."

Rodger frowned slightly. He set down his magazine and sat straight up in the couch. "Ms. M, are you saying you were hiding something from us?" She nodded. "But..why? Why would you do a thing like that?"

"It was to protect you. I didn't want you to worry so much..." Moynihan looked to the ground. "And I never thought this day would come so quickly." She interlocked her fingers and put them on her lap. "The DNA doesn't need to spread through direct contact with the substance. It is also airborne, spreading as small particles in the air, so small it's impossible to see. I do not yet know if it's possible you all are breathing out these particles, but in any spill, some DNA gets swept up in the air. From here, they are usually broken, or too small to make any real change. But if one were to accidentally inhale enough DNA, they could become mutated."

The others stared at her in shock. But she wasn't finished yet. "It is highly unlikely this girl has much control over her transformation, or even if she has perfect dinosaur DNA just as you do. I haven't figured out just what caused that gamma contamination that perfected your forms, but the odds of it happening to a sixth person is low. But I will not rule out that possibility. She might have a perfect dinosaur form just as you all do." Moynihan frowned and rubbed her head with her right hand. "But in order to transform perfectly, a master would have to have given her that ability."

"Like you?" Max asked. "You were the one who helped us completely control our dinosaur forms."

Moynihan nodded. "However, I wasn't the one who gave her that ability. There's only one other person who could have done that..." She didn't have to say it. The Dino Squad already knew who she was talking about. They know that there was another Velociraptor out there who could have easily given this kid the ability to control her dinosaur form.

And who knows how many others there could be...

WHOOOOSH!

The sleek metal doors of an elevator pulled apart, wide enough for a figure to stop inside. The figure leaned against the right wall as they pressed a few buttons. The elevator jerked a bit and then started to move up. Near the ceiling it displayed the floor it was on. The number kept rising until the number glowed red, and the elevator stopped. The doors pushed open, and the figure stepped out.

They made their way down a hallway. Doors were on both sides, and the floor was covered in tiles, and no carpeting. One of the lights on the roof was flickering. The figure groaned. They knew they had to change the light bulb sooner or later. They walked to the end of the hallway and turned left. The door was a darker color than the rest, and it had large letters on it that read 'Restricted Area.' The figure held up their hand and placed it on the scanner just outside the door. The small device whirred to life, and a faint red light scanned the hand. After a few seconds, the words 'Access Approved' flashed on the screen. There was a clicking sound, and the door was unlocked. The figure slowly opened the door, stepped inside, and shut the door behind them.

The figure walked forward, now entering a narrow metallic hallway. There were plenty of warning signs planted on the walls. The large door in front of them had a large yellow X on it and had a warning about what would happen to trespassers. The figure completely ignored these signs as they did not apply to them.

The doors opened up automatically for them as they walked by. There were scanners planted near the ceilings and were programmed to open up automatically for a select few individuals. But the final door would not open. Next to it was a card slot. The figure reached into their pocket and pulled out a silvery black card and swiped it in the slot. Another click, and the door opened up. The figure stepped out, and was now in a reddish room. It was hard to tell if the person had stepped back in time or not. It was Victor's lab!

Nearby, another figure leaned against the wall. They were about the same height as well. "Well..." said a feminine voice. "I thought you'd never get here."

The figure stepped into the light, revealing who they were. It was Michelle, the new student at Kittery High! Michelle still wore the same outfit as before. She strode into the large room, and scoffed at the new figure. "At least I got here." She put the card back in her pocket. "I still don't know why Victor wants me to spy on the children in that classroom..."

"He doesn't want you to spy." said the other figure. "Just..observe."

"And how is that different from spying, Oscura?" Michelle asked.

Oscura wore a sleeveless black top and blue jeans. Her hair was long and black as the night. She merely chuckled at Michelle. "Trust me, there's a difference." She pushed herself from the wall and walked towards the auburn-haired girl. She gave her a quick smirk and then walked straight past her. Michelle just rolled her eyes. Oscura always had an attitude, and not even Victor could change that. Oscura pulled out a chair and sat down on it. She swiveled it so she could face Michelle.

"So, Oscura," Michelle said as she leaned against the wall. "Any idea why Victor wanted to meet with us in here?"

Oscura simply shrugged her shoulders. "No idea. Not like I care anyway. I could easily pull off any task he lays out to me. There's nothing I can't do. Victor should make me his second-in-command..or even better. Leader." Michelle could have sworn she saw stars in Oscura's eyes as she said that. "Oh yes..then we could really get the progress going around here..."

"Dream on!" Michelle scoffed, stifling a laugh. "Like Victor would ever let you run. You're only seventeen years old!"

"Yeah? And you're only eighteen, so shut your trap." Oscura sneered. "You're just jealous that Victor prefers me over you."

"I am not!" Michelle said bitterly. Even though she and Oscura were partners, they just couldn't stop getting on each other's nerves. They both sometimes wondered why Victor paired the two up. They could only reason it was because they both shared the same secret, and it would help aid Victor in his quest of transforming the world back to the way it was when dinosaurs roamed. Michelle wasn't all for this idea, but she decided to stay anyway. She had nothing better to do with her time, and she was receiving excellent pay.

Oscura on the other hand absolutely loved Victor's plans. She didn't care much about money. She just wanted to wreak as much havoc as she could. She felt a bit bitter than Victor barely let the two go out and cause any real trouble. They were mainly sent out as spies to try and find any unusual activity, and to find the perfect dinosaurs. Oscura wanted to fight someone, to sink her claws and teeth into them, and make them plead for mercy. Perhaps this is why she rarely go to on any missions. She was the type of person who would rather attack first and ask questions later. For the moment, Victor didn't want to engage anyone unless he had a really good reason, well other than hating humankind in general that is.

Michelle had been recently assigned to take part in Ms. Moynihan's classroom. It was such a sudden mission she was almost ill-prepared for it. But Victor refused to tell her exactly why he wanted her in that particular classroom. She hadn't seen anything in particular interest in the room. It just seemed like any other science room to her. "It just seems like a waste of time." She said out loud. Oscura stared at her. "I mean, assigning me to an ordinary science class? Just..how ridiculous is that? I mean, there's nothing special about it. Why did Veloci make me waste my time?"

"I don't know..." Oscura said slowly, a dark grin spreading across her lips. "But why don't you ask him yourself?" She lifted a single finger, and pointed.

"Wha...?" Michelle turned towards the door, and her eyes widened. She hadn't heard the door reopen. There, in the doorway, stood Victor Veloci. He had a cross look on his face as he walked towards Michelle. "Veloci, sir! I-I-I didn't see you there..." She stammered, backing up against the wall. She knew the consequences for talking about Victor behind his back like that. "I'm sorry."

"I made you waste your time? Well sorry, I guess next time I should check to see if it's okay with you!" Victor said sarcastically.

"I said I was sorry! It's just that...you didn't tell me exactly WHAT I was looking for in that room. All I saw was a bunch of useless students..." Michelle tried to explain.

"You were to keep an eye on Caruso, and any of his close friends." Victor said, his expression softening. "That was your task. Just to observe them, and to tell me if you see anything unusual. If you did, you were not to engage them, just tell me."

"Caruso? Why?" Michelle tilted her head quizzically.

"I've confirmed he is the perfect Stegosaurus I've been searching for." Victor responded.

"No way..." Michelle looked at her hand, and for a few seconds, had it transform into a dinosaur's paw. "So we're not the only ones..." She wasn't sure what to make of this new information. She had always thought that only she and Oscura were 'infected' with dinosaur DNA.

Victor nodded. "And I suspect the other perfect dinosaurs are really teenagers as well. And since I usually spot the dinosaurs together, in a group, Caruso is part of a pack. But I have no idea what the names, or appearances, are of anyone he hangs out with. So although we can capture him, we aren't much closer to capturing the other four."

"When am I going to see some action?" Oscura rudely interrupted the two, walking over, hands held out in a questionable manner. "Come on! I want to sink my teeth into something!"

The anthropomorphic raptor held his hand up to make her stop talking. "Patience, your time will come soon enough. I have a task for you, Oscura." Victor turned to Michelle. "This tasks applies to you as well. I am sending both of you out to do something for me. "

"Finally! A real mission!" Oscura gleamed. "Am I going to tear someone up this time?"

"Not yet..." Oscura's smile fell and she slumped her shoulders in disappointment. "However, part of this plan will involve some..combat." Oscura looked up at him expectantly. "You two are going to work together to help me capture Caruso."

"Just him? Why not all of them?" Oscura asked.

"Oh don't worry. We'll get them all. But I need to know their weaknesses and strengths. And Caruso will provide that information for me..." Victor grinned.

"Like he's just going to give it away..." Michelle said, looking at her hand, transformed back into a dino paw. She flexed the claws. "I doubt he'll turn on his buddies just like that."

Victor chuckled. He knew very well Caruso wouldn't turn on his teammates. And he had prepared for this. "Oh he'll talk..." His eyes glowed and his head shifted, and soon took the form of a red Velociraptor's head. 'Trust me...' He grinned a toothy smile. 'And I have more planned for him... But that's not of your concern right now.' He turned his head towards the monitor. 'I have located the source of the radio waves that have been blocking me from seeing the perfect dinosaurs. I couldn't figure out what to do about it at first, but I believe I have the solution.' He faced the girls again. 'And that's where you come in, Michelle.'

"Me sir?" Michelle took a step forward. "What do you want me to do? Disable their equipment or what?"

'Not just disable it... sabotage it. I don't want Moynihan to be able to track me. I want you to cut off power to that lighthouse.' Victor Veloci told her. 'Do you understand your task?' He inquired. He wanted to be sure she understood the task, as he did not like repeating himself. She gave a simple nod, though she did frown with uncertainty. Victor ignored it, and turned to Oscura, who was eagerly awaiting her assignment. 'And as for you... your task is to lure them all outside.'

"And how shall I do that, sir?" Oscura questioned, rubbing her hands together with anticipation.

Victor narrowed his glowing eyes. 'Anyway you want...'

"Oh dear..." Michelle commented softly, rubbing her head. Victor must really be desperate if he was going to send Oscura out to cause some trouble. And she could tell Oscura was going to enjoy this. A little too much, in her opinion. But she didn't question Victor's orders. If this is the way he wanted to catch the Dino Squad, then so be it. But she wondered how she could infiltrate the lighthouse without being seen. If it was really high tech, how would she manage?

"Yes! Finally, some mischief!" Oscura said excitedly, acting like a kid in a candy store.

"What I don't understand is how am I going to get into that lighthouse? Just walk in, invited?" Michelle held her arms in the air. "Should I just ask to come on in? I'm sure they'll let me." She was being sarcastic and they knew it.

'Why that...' Victor trailed off, and a gleam appeared in his eyes. 'That sounds wonderful!'

"You mean..she's just going to ask..?" Oscura stared at Victor in mild shock.

'Yes...and here is how it's going to work...' Victor started to explain to them his plan in more detail.

On the wall on the other side of the room, the silhouettes of the three individuals could be seen. The shadow of a raptor, looking down at young female figures as they chatted away about their plans. After about a minute, the raptor shadow pointed away, seemingly giving off an nonverbal command. The two human figures bowed in respect, and faced the other way. In a matter of seconds, they started to change form. One of them appeared to have a large crest on their head, and was relatively large. The other was smaller and more slender, a long skinny neck head up high connected to a slender head. The two dashed off. The raptor simply turned and walked away. The mission has begun.

"And I win again!" Buzz threw his arms in the air, celebrating his victory. He turned to his opponent. "Ready for another round?"

"Only if you let me win..." His opponent, Caruso, grumbled. "This is the fifth time in a row you've beaten me."

Buzz had to laugh at that comment. Ms. Moynihan had wanted Buzz to help train Caruso with the video game. It was her punishment she assigned them. Provided, it wasn't a really harsh punishment, but it would still teach the two of them a lesson in getting along. They had really been at each other lately, and she couldn't understand why. And she had recalled how upset Caruso had been since he lost three minutes in a battle with her on the computer game. And she knew Buzz had lasted the longest of her students against her, so that influenced her decision to have Buzz and Caruso play with each other on the dinosaur game while she trained the other three.

"You know I can't do that, Caruso. Ms. Moynihan said you had to get better using your own skills, not by someone letting you win. You'll never improve that way." Buzz told his blue-haired friend.

"Well I'm getting sick of losing." Caruso complained. "This game must be rigged!"

"It's not rigged. You just haven't gotten the hang of the controls yet. Don't worry," Buzz assured his friend. "You'll get the hang of it soon." When Caruso turned to face him, Buzz couldn't help but laugh at his expression.

"That's what you said about half an hour ago!" Caruso yelled, squeezing his controller tightly.

"Tsk tsk tsk. Watch your temper. We don't wanna have to pay for a new controller, now do we?" Buzz said teasingly. "And besides you can't expect to be an expert at this in a short period of time. So don't be so hard on yourself, Irwin. Just give it some more time."

"I don't know why I'm wasting my time on this game anyway. I should be at the store getting some more hair gel. My hair can't stay perfect on its own you know." Caruso ran his fingers through his hair. Buzz rolled his eyes. Typical Caruso and his typical vain ways. Even after all this time fighting to save the world, he hadn't changed much, caring so much about his appearance, and often regarding his hair as perfect. "If I don't get some soon, I'll have split ends!"

"I thought only girls worried about split ends." Buzz sniggered.

"Laugh while you can, Buzzard boy! My hair will be world famous one day!" Caruso declared.

"Sure..whatever." Buzz picked up his controller. "Now come on, Ms. Moynihan doesn't want this lesson to end until you beat me fair and square." Caruso groaned, but he couldn't go against Moynihan's orders. He picked up the controller and prepared himself for another losing battle. He glanced at the time, and groaned. There was still about four more hours before they all had to go home. And Moynihan wasn't going to let him stop playing the game until he either won or they had to go home. Considering his poor game skills, Caruso predicted that he would be stuck up in that room with Buzz the whole time, and so far that prediction is coming true.

"Are you sure it was a good idea having Caruso and Buzz in the same room together?" Rodger asked as he worked on another broken Chiller. "They good friends and all, but they have been fighting more frequently lately. I don't understand it, yo."

"Caruso's just a little edgy that he missed that big sale yesterday." Fiona tilted the spout of the bucket she was holding as she watered one of Moynihan's plants. "He'll get over it."

"And he's probably still a bit bitter at Buzz for what happened yesterday." Max said. He was sitting on the couch, waiting for Ms. Moynihan to return. She had gone into a restricted part of her house. She hadn't let the children venture in there, and while they never opposed, they had wondered just what she keeps in there. She said she would be back in a few minutes. The teens didn't mind, since they were in no hurry to leave. They enjoyed their visits to Moynihan's lighthouse, even though the majority of the time they were scouting for Victor Veloci or partaking in rigorous training.

"What Buzz did was immature." Rodger said as he rubbed a cloth onto the Chiller to dry it up a bit. He wiped his brow, and wondered, for a moment, if he would ever get a day off from working on the Chillers and Spillers. Just what was the team doing with these things anyway? It was like everyday something would go wrong with them.

"Although it was hilarious." Fiona chuckled to herself.

"As hilarious as it was, Buzz didn't have the right to do that." Max was also not happy with Buzz's behavior no more than he was with Caruso's behavior yesterday. Sure he found it amusing, but he was a bit upset with how those two behaved the other day. Caruso was worried about some stupid sale, and Buzz just wanted to get even. "He does owe Caruso an apology."

Fiona nodded. "As Caruso owes him an apology." The red-haired female set the bucket down, and strode towards Max. "Remember, he was giving Buzz a hard time about some person he was playing with on that game."

"No time to worry about that now." The kids turned to see Ms. Moynihan standing there, a worried expression on her face.

"What is it, Ms. M?" Max asked.

"The scanners picked up traces of primordial ooze just a few yards from the lighthouse!" Joanne said with a sense of urgency in her tone. And the kids shared her fear. Primordial ooze had never been this close to the lighthouse before. "Go out and investigate it! I'll go get Caruso and Buzz." With that, she disappeared into the room where Buzz and Caruso were.

"Let's go, team!" Max said as he made his way towards the door, quickly followed by Rodger and Fiona. They opened the door and exited out. Since the ooze signature was coming from so close to the lighthouse, they didn't bother taking their motorcycles with them. Instead they started jogging forward until they could see the familiar orange glow of the primordial ooze. There was a large metal can of it just laying there. There was a deep cut in it, causing the stuff to leak out.

"This has Victor Veloci written all over it." Max narrowed his eyes at the site.

"But this doesn't make sense. I don't detect any mutated lifeforms in the vicinity." Fiona knelt down further to get a closer look. "I don't see any animal tracks or anything."

Rodger held out his small radar and typed in a few numbers. The instrument lit up, and a thin bright line began making circles around the monitor. Then, in a few seconds, a tiny white dot began flashing on the screen. Rodger looked up at his two teammates. "Something did come in contact with this stuff. And it's heading off in that direction." He pointed.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Caruso and Buzz quickly arrived on the scene. "Let's go!"

"And I'm coming with." Said another voice. The Dino Squad turned around and were surprised to see Moynihan running up to them. Due to her old age and injury, they didn't think she would ever participate in very many missions. She was usually just there to help guide them. They were the muscle. She was the brains. That's how it worked out. Moynihan caught up with the kids pretty quickly despite her old age.

"Ms. Moynihan...?" Max gaped. "But-But... You almost never directly joined on any of our missions in the past."

"Yeah...so why you coming this time?" Rodger inquired, cocking an eyebrow.

"If my fears are confirmed, then you are going to need my help, Dino Squad." Moynihan said, eyes narrowed slightly. The next thing she did was something she hadn't done in so many years, and was hoping she'd never have to do again. The Dino Squad stepped back as she got a strange aura around her. Her eyes suddenly glowed yellow, and her body transformed. Her mouth became long, and her teeth became sharp. She grew larger in size, her legs grew slender, and a tail extended from behind. A purple crest appeared on her head. For one of the first times since her final battle with Victor, Joanne had transformed into her true self, a Velociraptor...

"Did they pick up the signal yet?" Oscura asked impatiently.

"I'm sure they did. We just have to wait for them. They'll be here shortly, I'm sure." Michelle explained, looking through the foliage to look for any signs of dinosaurs heading their direction. She and Oscura had planted some primordial ooze pretty close to the lighthouse to lure out the Dino Squad. It was part of Victor's plan.

"I hope they show up soon." Oscura said bitterly. "I'm growing tired of waiting." She flexed her hands as she would if she were a dinosaur.

"Haven't you ever heard of the phrase 'Patience is a Virtue', Osky?" Michelle said in a teasing manner.

Oscura gritted her teeth and pressed her fingers into tree bark. Her nails extended into talons, and Michelle could hear the sharp claws scraping against the bark. "Don't call me Osky..." She warned the auburn-haired girl. "I may be younger than you, but I'm no kid." She looked at her with glowing yellow eyes. "And to answer your stupid question, no I never heard of that stupid phrase."

Michelle chuckled. "I didn't think so." Michelle then started to hear some footsteps. She peered over, and squinted as hard as she could. It was hard to make it out, but she could see some figures coming their direction. Rather large figures in fact, dinosaurs! Michelle's eyes brightened, and a grin spread across her face. She turned to her partner, gesturing to her. "They're coming. Time to put this show on the road."

Oscura perked up, her eyes brightening with a gleam of mischief. "Finally!" She walked forward and peered over to see if the Dino Squad was still coming. They were, and now they could make out the different dinosaurs that formed the group. There was a Tyrannosaurus Rex, a Stegosaurus, a Styracosaurus, a Spinosaurus, a Pteranodon, and a Velociraptor. "Velociraptor...? Hmm... Could that be...?"

"Most likely." Michelle said. "So you remember the plan right?"

Oscura nodded. "Yes."

"Good." Michelle got on the ground. She lay on her back, and she tried to make herself appear as helpless as possible. "Let's make this look as convincing as possible, all right?"

Oscura grinned darkly and gave a nod. Even though this will just be pretend, it's still the entertainment she's been wanting since she joined Veloci's ranks. A symbol of a thinly built dinosaur appeared on her shoulder, and in her eyes, glowing yellow-orange. She leaned forward as her body grew ever thinner, and yet at the same time muscular. Her jaws extended, becoming thin and slender, serrated teeth now decorating her jawline. Her skin changed to red and orange as her hands stretched out, two long claws appearing and a third opposable claw as well appeared. Her legs grew thin and muscular, two claws serving as a foothold, a third raising above the ground in a small sickle shape and a fourth serving as a dangerous dewclaw. A long thin tail grew out of her body and her neck stretched out, raising high above the body. She screeched. She had turned into a Troodon.

'All right, time to put Victor's plan into motion.' Oscura told Michelle with her thoughts. She opened up her jaws, and let out a loud hiss, hoping the Dino Squad could hear her. She then lunged on her partner, pretending to attack her while at the same time trying to look savage. She clamped onto her arm, drawing some blood. She knew she had to injure Michelle in some manner to make it look convincing. Michelle could hear the footsteps getting closer and began to play out her part.

"AAAAAH! SOMEBODY HELP ME!" Michelle screamed, gently pushing Oscura's head to make it look like she was struggling. "A DINOSAUR IS ATTACKING ME!"

The screams soon fell on the Dino Squad's ears. Max's massive T-Rex head looked over. He could see someone pinned down by what appeared to be a very thin raptor, and he could smell blood. 'Someone's in trouble!' He said in his mind, broadcasting it to his team mates. Buzz flew up into the sky to get a better view. With his eagle-like vision, he soon recognized the individual.

'It's Michelle! And some..thing is attacking her!' Buzz said urgently.

'Uh yeah..we can kind of tell.' Caruso said sarcastically, earning a verbal growl from Fiona.

'No time to joke! Let's help her!' Fiona said as she was about to run ahead of the team. Ms. Moynihan, however, stopped her.

'We cannot let her see us as dinosaurs.' Joanne warned Fiona.

Fiona reared her head back. 'Then what was the point of us turning into dinosaurs if we...'

Moynihan shook her green-skinned head. 'I didn't know there was going to be a human out here. Sorry children, but we must deal with this without our dinosaur forms. We don't want Michelle to report us, now do we?'

Caruso almost laughed at this. 'Report us? Why? She is a dinosaur herself.'

Buzz shifted his harsh gaze to Caruso. He's about had enough of Caruso's accusations of Michelle being a dinosaur. So far, no one had been able to come up with any positive evidence of her being a dinosaur. They only had Caruso's witness to it, and he hasn't always been reliable. He has lied to them before, so they weren't sure if this was just another one of his lies or not. 'You just won't shut up about that, will you?'

'Not now, you two!' Rodger shouted. 'She's in trouble! And you two are... Ugh!' He had to shut himself up before he lost his temper. He quickly changed back into a human. Without saying a word he ran to where the screaming was coming from. Buzz and Caruso looked at each other, and changed back and followed Rodger.

'Should we go after them?' Max asked, looking at Ms. Moynihan. 'Or do you think they can handle it? The dinosaur I saw didn't seem that strong...'

'No, we should help them.' Moynihan said. 'I could smell it. It's a Troodon. Clever dinosaur. Not very strong, but still cunning, and a trickster. They're a handful, and their teeth are worse than a T-Rex's. They can shred flesh up pretty badly' She transformed back herself. She looked up at Max and Fiona. "Come on!"

As Ms. Moynihan struggled to catch up with Buzz, Caruso, and Rodger, Fiona and Max changed back as well. Max held the Chiller and Fiona held the Spiller. They ran as fast as they could, and nearly bumped into Moynihan as they did so. They soon caught up with the others and stopped in their tracks. Ahead of them, in an open area, they could see the new student, Michelle, struggling to get a Troodon off of her. The Troodon had attacked Rodger, and shredded up his arm pretty good. Without a weapon, Rodger didn't stand much of a change.

Buzz and Caruso were nearby, trying to fight the Troodon with sticks and rocks. But it just ignored them, and continued to attack Michelle. They could easily beat the Troodon if they could turn into dinosaurs themselves. But they couldn't change in front of Michelle. She'd see them. Buzz turned and saw the remainder of the team was coming. "Moynihan! How do we get the Troodon away from here?"

"Use the Chiller and Spiller!" Joanne told them. "Return the Troodon to its original form!" She didn't know why she had to tell them that. They should have already known what to do.

"But..we don't have any weapons!" Caruso shouted, tossing another rock at the Troodon. This got its attention. It shifted its head towards him, baring its teeth. "Well..I got its attention..." He said, backing up a few steps.

"Way to go Caruso." Buzz said, picking up a stick to attack the red and orange Troodon with.

"Don't let it bite you!" Moynihan warned. "Troodons have a cocktail of bacteria in their saliva! It'll infect you and make you sick!"

Michelle's eyes widened at this. Victor hadn't told them about this. And she was sure Oscura didn't know either. This would probably make Oscura happy, knowing she was more dangerous than she thought. She stared at the bite marks Oscura gave her to make the acting look good. Maybe this won't end so badly after all. She could still get in the lighthouse, and it just made the ruse all the more convincing. She smiled, though it was unseen by the others.

Ms. Moynihan caught sight of Rodger, who was trying to stop the bleeding. "Rodger!" She went to his side, and looked at his arm. Luckily the Troodon only bit him once, but it did a heck of a job on him. Its teeth had shredded into his skin, leaving being several short gashes, though they did not go deep into the skin. At first glance, one would believe there wasn't much to worry about, but Joanne knew better.

Shortly, Fiona and Max arrived on the scene, the Chiller and Spiller ready. They go the Troodon in their sights. "There it is!" Max ran forward with the Chiller, his finger on the trigger. The Troodon looked in his direction, and its eyes seemed to widen with fear. Max quickly pulled the trigger, sending a wave of cold air at the dinosaur. Reacting fast, the Troodon ducked, allowing the cold blast to pass harmlessly over it. The Troodon then leapt over Max and Fiona, and took off. "Come on, after it!"

"Not so fast, Max!" Ms. Moynihan called out to the jock as she tried to help support Rodger. The african-american was starting to succumb to the infection in his arm, his hand on his head now. "We have to get Rodger and Michelle back to the lighthouse for some treatment! Troodon saliva is quite dangerous, don't ya know?"

"Um..no I did not know." Max said to the old Scottish woman.

"Rodger!" Fiona looked alarmed at her friend's condition. "Are you all right?"

"Y-Yeah..." Rodger said, rubbing his head. "I'll be fine..."

"He needs to take some medicine." Moynihan said to Fiona. "Don't worry. I have something that'll do the trick."

Buzz knelt by Michelle's side, and offered his hand. "You all right?"

Weakly and starting to succumb to the infection, Michelle took his hand, and struggled to gain her footing. "I'll be all right... Thanks for coming to my rescue." She said, smiling a little. She knew if she kept up the acting, she'd be inside the lighthouse in no time. Victor was right. They were rather gullible, unable to detect a trap. Buzz smiled as he helped support her, but he didn't respond.

Oscura ran behind some foliage, and changed back. She fulfilled her part of the plan, although she didn't like the idea of running off like a coward. But it was for a good reason. She had to make it look like they defeated her, and make it look like she just vanished. The Dino Squad had taken care of the primordial ooze that was on the floor, and was now helping the two injured ones, Rodger and Michelle, back to their lair.

Oscura grinned. She pulled out her communicator and pressed the red button. "The plan is in motion, sir. They fell for it." She said into the microphone.

"Yeowch!" Rodger yelped as Ms. Moynihan applied pressure to the injury he had received from the Troodon. The cloth was covered with an antiseptic to help clear the infection. Even though it is supposed to help Rodger, it still hurt. He tried to pull his arm away but, despite her old age, Moynihan had a strong grip.

"I'm sorry, Rodger, but you don't want this to get infected, do you?" Moynihan asked as she placed the cloth down and picked up the medication she mentioned earlier. She poured a bit of the contents onto the cloth and pressed it against Rodger's arm. The teen winced in pain, but didn't put up a struggle. "I know it hurts, but it'll kill off the Troodon bacteria."

"Are you sure, Ms. M?" Rodger said through clenched teeth. The medicine was stinging horribly. It was worse than getting a splinter removed. It was more like getting a shot on the gums and the gums were swollen and hyper sensitive.

"Oh yes, Rodger, I'm sure." Ms. Moynihan assured him. She removed the cloth and grabbed a large gauze, like what doctors use to help stop the bleeding, and pressed it against Rodger's wound. She took some medical bandages and wound them around his arm tightly, but not too tight. She didn't want to cut off his circulation. "There, finished."

Rodger smiled, and got up from the seat. "And how long do I keep this on?" He asked, pointing to the bandage. He tried his best not to touch it, although it did start to itch a little. If he touched it, he would recoil in pain.

"A couple days." Ms Moynihan told him. "Your arm should be all better by then."

Rodger nodded. He turned to their guest, Michelle, who was sitting down on the couch with Fiona, who was applying the medicine to her arm. Michelle was having as much difficulty dealing with the stinging as Rodger had. "Are you sure it was safe to bring her with?" He asked Ms. Moynihan. "I mean, what if she finds out about..."

"So long as we keep her in this one area of the lighthouse, she won't know." Moynihan said softly so Michelle couldn't hear them. "Besides we didn't have much choice. Modern science doesn't have a cure for Troodon poison."

"You've got a point." Rodger stated, but still sounding concerned. "Still..I don't think we should take our eyes off of her. She could wander off and find something we don't want her to see." He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Max standing next to him.

"Relax Rodger. She's just as injured as you are, and all of us are in here. What could she possibly do?" He turned to see Buzz struggling to hold Michelle still while Fiona applied the painful medicine to her arm. "She's harmless."

"Harmless? That's a laugh!" Caruso walked up from behind, his arms folded, and the expression on his face told them he wasn't happy. He was the only one opposed to bringing Michelle into the lair. "Bringing her here was a terrible idea. What if she works for Veloci? What if she's spying on us? What if this is all an elaborate scheme to let down our guard?!"

"Dude..you're paranoid." Rodger explained as he shifted his arm. He felt a sharp pain and yelped, holding his arm. "That..was one vicious Troodon."

"Oh relax, Caruso." Ms. Moynihan smiled at him. "Michelle isn't going to do us harm."

"But still..." Caruso began.

"Look, would it make you feel better if we send Michelle on her way home after Buzz and Fiona are through treating her injuries?" Max asked, sounding just slightly annoyed with Caruso's attitude about this girl.

"Ow..." Michelle grumbled as Fiona wrapped up a bandage around her arm.

"Hold still. It's almost over." Fiona told her, tightening the bandage to stop the bleeding.

"Doesn't seem like your friend doesn't like me very much." Michelle commented. She was trying to keep her mind off of the stinging pain.

Fiona looked over her shoulders, and saw Caruso standing with the others, looking rather disgruntled. Fiona sighed. He was obviously ranting about his displeasure in having Michelle in the lighthouse. Fiona did see his point, since Michelle was a stranger and all. But they were all in the lighthouse and they could all keep an eye on her. There wasn't really anything that could go wrong.

"Oh you mean Caruso? Don't worry about him." Fiona told her. "He's a nice guy despite his attitude."

"Heheheh. I'll believe it when I see it." Michelle said, rolling her eyes a little.

Buzz chuckled at that comment. "Took me a little while to get used to his attitude as well." Buzz recalled how they all first met on that field trip. Well technically they didn't just meet, but it was the first time they had to work as a team and that first mission allowed them to get to know each other better. Buzz hadn't liked Caruso much because of his vain attitude. And he believed the feeling was mutual. He sensed Caruso didn't feel comfortable working with him due to his appearance. Buzz was used to this attitude. In the past, people have judged him as being 'dangerous' simply because he dressed up like a punk.

But after a few missions, tensions had lightened up, and they grew closer, eventually becoming true friends. While the others still tease him once in a while for his appearance, he knows it's all in good fun and they don't mean to hurt his feelings. They, overall, accepted his interests, the way he was. He was glad he could trust them, to confide in them, that they could see he was a really nice guy despite his looks. McFinn used to give him a hard time for his looks, but even he had a change of heart when he saw that Buzz wasn't such a bad guy after all, and there was no reason to be so afraid of him.

"Fiona is right, though." Buzz said. "Even though Caruso has acted selfishly in the past, he comes through for the team in the end, and he does genuinely care about us. He's not really a bad guy. I'm sure if you two gave each other a chance, you could be friends."

Michelle placed a hand on her arm, wincing as pain shot through it. She quickly removed her arm, and gave a low sigh. She glanced over at Caruso and the others, pondering what they were talking about her. No doubt her. Caruso was probably trying to talk the others into throwing her out. She frowned slightly. If he succeeded, she wouldn't be able to complete her mission. "I'll consider it." She told Buzz before going into deep thought.

She knew there had to be a room in this place somewhere where Moynihan kept her monitoring equipment and her computers. She would have to find someway to locate it. She suspected it would probably be on a higher floor. But she couldn't just ask them. They would become suspicious and realize Caruso was right. She couldn't have that happen. She looked around herself. There was no way she could just sneak away. Someone would spot her quickly.

She could go outside and act like she was going home, and then just sneak back inside. But then, this could also be tricky. She could still get spotted. If the radar equipment was as good as she had been told, Ms. Moynihan would know she was still around the lighthouse parameters. That is, if she were in the equipment room. There was chance she could pull this off. If she waited until the others left, then Moynihan would be all alone, and it would be easier to sneak around the lighthouse with less eyes around to see her.

Or maybe she could find another excuse, like she had to use the bathroom. But what if the bathroom was on the bottom floor? She couldn't very well get lost upstairs if the bathroom were downstairs, could she? There wasn't a high chance of the bathroom being anywhere near the location she needed to be. If she asked for an escort, that would look rather odd.

And on top of that, exactly how was she going to pull this off? Victor had instructed her to implant a virus, claiming it would be more subtle. Michelle mentally rolled her eyes. Victor didn't know the first thing about being subtle. The guy drives around in a red van with a dinosaur face on it, and he wonders how the Dino Squad evaded him before. She did admit though, the virus thing would be a quick solution, and it would make it difficult to recover.

She had also been considering Oscura's idea. Oscura said that the best way to sabotage the equipment would be to completely destroy it, to go dino and just tear up all the wires and such. This would be just as devasting, though far less subtle. She would have the make a clean getaway, since someone was bound to hear it. Such a move would make the equipment harder to recover, since they would have to buy whole new equipment. And Ms. Moynihan wasn't as rich as Veloci was. She couldn't just throw money away to get new equipment.

She closed her eyes and placed her hands gingerly on her head. She was becoming frustrated as to how she was going to pull this off. She would have to quickly decide how she was going to put this plan in motion. She didn't want to know what would happen to her if she failed and Victor found out about it. She guessed she'll just have to wing it and hope it'll work. She then remembered Caruso. He was the specific target of Veloci, for now. She had been told to tag him with a transmitter without being caught. The transmitter was small and designed to cling to the skin without causing an itch and was so tiny the recipient couldn't feel it.

The transmitter had another feature which will prove useful later on. With a push of a button, the transmitter can send a wave of disabling electricity through the body, paralyzing the victim and making them easier to catch. It was Oscura's idea to add in that feature, and Victor loved the idea.

"Hey..." She was shaken out of her thoughts when Buzz nudged her gently. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, you were spacing out there. Is something wrong?" Fiona asked, standing next to Buzz and looking over his shoulder.

"Oh? Oh! I'm fine." Michelle said quickly, slowly rising up off the couch.

"Michelle, is your house far from here?" Michelle turned to see Ms. Moynihan walking over, Caruso standing by her side with his arms crossed.

"Why?" Michelle asked.

"Because you've been treated, so there's no more reasons for you to be in the lighthouse..." Caruso muttered under his breath, and just earned himself a glare from Ms. Moynihan.

"I'm sure your folks must be wondering where you are." Moynihan said gently. "And it is getting late. Perhaps you should get going." Joanne was right. The sun was starting to set. She'd been there longer than she thought.

Then Michelle realized this could work in her favor. She could go with her one plan, to pretend to leave, and wait for the others to go home. She assumed they would be leaving soon anyway. She would just have to be patient and wait until they left. If Moynihan stayed downstairs to wave goodbye to them, she could sneak back in and follow the old woman up to the equipment room. But then...what of Rump, their dog? She eyed the dog cautiously, wondering what she was going to do with him.

"Are you worried about Rump?" Joanne asked her. "Don't worry about Rump. He's gotten a little sick earlier today, so he won't do anything to you."

Perfect, just the news she needed to hear. Okay it was settled. Michelle knew how she was going to pull this off. Without hesitating, she answered Moynihan's question. "No I don't live far from here." She made her way towards the door. "I'll be able to walk there on my own." As she reached for the door handle, she turned back and gave the Dino Squad a smile of appreciation. "And thank you for rescuing me from that horrible Troodon."

"It was no biggie!" Buzz said with a big grin on his face.

"Just be more careful next time, all right?" Max said. "Next time we might not be there to help you."

Michelle chuckled. "I'll keep note of that. See ya." She walked out the door and closed the door behind her. She started to walk away, assuming the Dino Squad was watching her. She started to make her way towards the road, not looking back. When she was out of sight of the lighthouse, she made a sharp turn, and behind a tree to disappear. She lay low to the ground, and peered out to the lighthouse. She was close enough so she could see the children leave, but far enough so they can't see her snooping around.

She heard a low ring, and pulled out her communicator. She held it to her ear, and heard Oscura's voice on the other end. She groaned. Oscura had seen her leave the lighthouse and somehow could tell she hadn't done anything yet. "Yes, I left the lighthouse. No I did not sabotage their equipment yet... Why? Because there were too many of them around!" Oscura was definitely not happy with her. "You aren't in charge of this mission you know! Look I know what I'm doing. Trust me...their equipment will be gone by tonight. ...the transmitter? Oh no.. I didn't plant it on the boy yet..."

Michelle nearly banged her head against the tree. She had forgotten all about tagging Caruso. She was too lost in her thoughts on how she was going to pull off this plan. And when Caruso was near enough for her to tag, she blew the opportunity. "Oh dear...I'll find some way to get the transmitter on that boy." She continued to listen to Oscura's rants when she saw the door to the lighthouse open up. "Shhhh! They're coming out.. I'll contact you when the mission has been completed." She closed her communicator before Oscura could get out another word, and waited patiently for the teenagers to leave.

"I still don't trust that Michelle girl." Caruso said as he put on his Stego-Cycle helmet. "It just seems too...weird for..."

"Too weird for what?" Max asked. "I don't get what you have against her. She hasn't done anything to harm us."

"She was too close to the lighthouse." Caruso insisted. "No one comes way out here... Well no one except us. But still..just what was she doing here? Don't you think it was too much of a coincidence that she just happened to be here, this close to the lighthouse, just due to exploring?"

"...okay I'm going to try to agree that what you just said made any sense." Buzz said, scratching his head.

Caruso groaned. He knew he wasn't going anywhere with this. And he started to wonder if he was just overreacting. Maybe he really had imagined the transformation. Maybe it was just a coincidence that Michelle was close to the lighthouse. She probably wasn't a threat after all. He started to feel a little guilty about the way he treated her. Maybe he should have given her a chance.

"Look guys..I'm sorry.. I guess you're right." Irwin said, slumping his shoulders. "Maybe I am making a big deal out of this. Maybe I should apologize to her."

"You can apologize to her if you want if we pass her on the way." Max said. He jumped onto his motorcycle.

"I'm sure we'll her on the road." Rodger told him. "If you wish to stop to talk to her, we won't stop you."

Michelle watched from a safe distance. The teenagers were all on their motor-bikes now and headed along the road. It wasn't far from the patch of forest she was hiding from. She almost decided to remain hidden when she realized she still need to plant the tracker on Caruso's body. This could provide the only other opportunity she'll ever have. She decided to walk near the road and walk down, to make it appear as though she's been walking this whole time. She didn't see how they'd become suspicious of that.

The sound of the motorcycles got louder, and she grew a little tense. They could just pass by her, or one would stop and it would be the wrong one. She felt the wind whoosh as four motorcycles drove past her. She realized the fifth was missing. She looked around, and heard the sound of metal clanging. She whirled around and saw the Stego-Cycle laying on its side. She then saw someone jump out of the seat and slowly walk towards her.

He pulled off his helmet, revealing himself to be Caruso. "Hey..." He said. His tone was different this time around. He sounded apologetic, and calm, no longer harsh or brash as he had before. "I just wanted to...apologize for how I treated you before."

Michelle walked closer to him. She hid the transmitter in the palm of her hand. "Oh?"

"Yeah..I guess I'm just so jumpy because of monster..." Caruso quickly caught himself. "Monster tests.. Yeah, the monstrous tests at school. They put me through a lot of stress."

Michelle chuckled light-heartedly. "Yeah I know what you mean. Those tests are murder!"

Caruso nodded. He held out his hand. "So...no hard feelings right?"

Michelle looked at his hand, and her eyes slowly trailed to her own hand. She looked up at him in the face, and smiled. She thrust forth her hand and clasped his, and shook it. "Right." As she shook his hand, the transmitter clung deeply into his skin without his awareness of it. At least one part of the plan was now out of the way.

Caruso returned the smile, and headed back to his bike. "Well, see you Monday in class then." He said as he got back onto his motorcycle and drove away. Michelle simply waved goodbye to him, watching him as he disappeared onto the road.

When he was out of earshot, Michelle smirked to herself. "The fool...He doesn't even realize he walked straight into a trap..." She turned towards the forest and disappeared into it, and started to head back towards the lighthouse again. She still needed to fulfill her other part of the plan. All alone, she didn't think Joanne could do much to defend herself. And with Rump sick, getting in the house without being spotted won't be too difficult either.

"Are you hungry Rump?" Joanne asked as she knelt by the white dog. She placed a hand on him gently and stroked his fur. Rump whined a little, lifting his head up to look at her. He had a slight fever, and was taking it easy. He didn't attempt to get up though, and he did not accept Moynihan's food offer. He must not be hungry right now. "Oh you poor thing..."

She had to check on the monitoring equipment now. She knew Rump would be all right on his own. He just needed to rest. He would be fine by tomorrow or the next day. He just caught a slight dog cold, is all. She headed upstairs where she kept her equipment she used to keep an eye on Veloci. To this day she'll never understand his hatred for mankind. But she already tried to reason with him and it didn't work.

"I often wonder how that mind of his works." Moynihan said softly to herself. As she reached the top of the stairs she made her way towards a group of computers. They were all turned off. She did this so that Victor would not be able to track down the source of the hacking. She suspected he already knew she was meddling with him, but since he didn't know where she was or track her down through cyberspace, there wasn't much he could do to stop her.

She smirked to herself. Victor was clever all right, but not as clever as she was. She's been doing this for years, and has not yet once got caught. Thanks to her knowledge of computers, she's been able to thwarted him enough to ensure his plans don't pull through. It had been hard working along, and with the Dino Squad with her, a weight was lifted off her shoulders. Now she had help to defend the world from Victor.

She felt a little guilty about something, now that she thought of it. Maybe she should have taught the kids how to intercept Victor. After all, they must have computers at home, or at least Rodger, being the geek of the class and all. She wasn't sure if it would ever have come in handy, but maybe there would come a time when she would be unable to monitor Victor, and someone else would have to temporarily take her place...

She shook her head. She realized she shouldn't be worrying about this right now. It had been pretty quiet lately when it came to mutant monsters. Other than the ooze they found earlier and Victor visiting the school, there hasn't been much cause for alarm. There wasn't anything to worry about right now. She strode towards the computer and sat down. She pressed the power button and it whirred to life. The light green monitor flickered on, displaying information she needed to see.

The monitor was not registering anything at the moment. She sighed with relief. Looks like it was going to be another quiet night. She shut down the computer and got up from the chair. She was about to head towards the stairs when she realized she forgot to shut off her laptop computer, which was still sitting on her desk. She slowly shook her head. She felt a bit foolish she left the computer on and now the batteries were low. She sighed. She'll have to buy more batteries tomorrow morning.

She then remembered that she told the kids to meet her early tomorrow morning. It was the weekend after all. She wanted to get some extra training in and felt Saturday would be the perfect day to do so. "I'll ask Rodger to help me with the computer." She told herself as she shut the laptop computer to preserve what little power the battery had left.

Back downstairs, Rump's ears started to twitch. His eyes snapped open, and he lifted up his head. He saw the doorknob moving, and he began to whimper a little. Someone was coming inside! He struggled to his feet and began to growl softly as the figure strode inside the house. His expression softened slightly when he saw it was Michelle. But he could sense something was not right about her. He somehow sensed she was in this house without permission, and believed her to be an intruder. He slowly climbed to his feet and opened his jaws to bark at her, but in a flash, a pair of claws wrapped around his neck. He yelped quietly as a snout full of sharp teeth pressed against his head.

'Now be a good little doggie and I won't have to tear your head off...' Michelle told him as she dropped him back on the floor. She quickly changed her head and hand back into a human and looked to the stairs. She chuckled softly. This is probably where Ms. Moynihan went, and probably where she's going to find the equipment room.

She started to walk towards the stairs when Rump suddenly glowed. She turned and saw that Rump was growing larger, a mane sprouted from his head, his jaws grew massive, his feet grew large sharp claws. Her eyes widened slightly. She hadn't been expecting this, especially from a sick pitbull terrier. The dog growled at her and lunged. Quickly Michelle ducked, letting Rump sail over her. The dog reacted fast and turned around and went after her again.

Michelle only had seconds to react. She could guess, just by looking at him, that he had a very powerful bite. She would have to avoid that maw of his. Rump was now in the air, his jaws wide open for the attack. She narrowed her eyes and bared her teeth, now transformed into fangs. Her hand glowed to reveal a black paw with three hooked claws. She pulled her arm back and struck forward. The claws slashed into Rump's side, blood splattering from them, and the dog fell to the ground, letting out a loud yelp of pain...

AAAARRRRROOOOOOOOOO!

Ms. Moynihan's eyes widened as she heard the howl. "Rump!" She made her way towards the steps as fast as she could, and walked down the steps as fast as she could. When she reached the bottom of the steps, she quickly looked around. She finally saw Rump laying on the floor, whimpering as he tried to get up. He had three gashes in his side, and was bleeding a bit heavily from them. "Rump!" She yelled again as she rushed to his side, not noticing a figure behind her going up the steps.

She placed a hand on his furry face, trying to calm him down. "You poor thing... What happened to you?" She didn't see the intruder anywhere, but the door was wide open. Someone was inside that's for sure. She cautiously looked around. The attacker was no where in sight, and she couldn't hear any signs of things being packed, and she couldn't hear any footsteps.

"Who's here?!" Moynihan said loudly, holding Rump in her arms gently. "Come on out and show yourself!" There was total silence. "I'm warning you..you don't want to make me angry!" The warning fell on deaf ears. Whoever was in the house, they either didn't hear her or were just plain ignoring her. She gently set Rump on the couch, careful not to injure him more. "Answer me!"

She heard a laugh coming from upstairs. It took her a few seconds before she realized just what the intruder was after: the monitoring equipment! She gasped and made her way back upstairs. She could only hope she wasn't too late. She reached the top of the steps and looked around the room. She narrowed her eyes in slight confusion. There wasn't anyone up here either. And nothing seemed out of place. "Now where did they go...?"

Michelle chuckled. Her plan was working perfectly. She knew she could trick Ms. Moynihan to lead her into the equipment room. But she never suspected that this one large room would be it. There wasn't a lot in here, it seemed. But then again, she couldn't afford much equipment, so it would be understandable. She watched as Ms. Moynihan began cautiously walking around the room. Michelle grinned darkly. She would just have to take out the old woman and then she could sabotage the equipment.

Ms. Moynihan could have easily given up on the search. If her eyes couldn't see anything, it would mean no one was there, right? The answer to that would be wrong. As a Velociraptor, Moynihan learned there was so much more to tell than just by sight. There was also her sense of smell, and her hearing. She closed her eyes. Her face grew green, and her jawline extended until her head was now a raptor's head. Michelle looked a little surprised. She had seen this before. Victor would sometimes do this.

Ms. Moynihan held her nose up in the air to pick up scents in the air. She caught whiff of something unfamiliar, and snarled. She shifted her gaze towards one part of the room, where Michelle was hiding. She narrowed her eyes and walked over there, and shifted her head back to normal. "I know you are there. Show yourself!"

"Heheheh..." Michelle chuckled as she walked out of her hiding place. She smirked at Moynihan's shocked expression. "I bet you weren't expecting me eh?" She asked, flexing her fingers a bit.

"Michelle? What are you doing back here?" Joanne asked. She then noticed the blood on Michelle's hands, and gasped. "You..attacked Rump? Why?"

"To keep him from attacking me of course." Michelle told her, licking the blood off her fingers. "I must apologize. This is such an..awkward way to talk isn't it? Should we talk as humans, or as dinosaurs?" She looked at the woman straight in the eyes. "What do you think, Ms. Moynihan..or should I call you Velociraptor Lady..?"

Ms. Moynihan was at a loss of words. "H-How did you..?"

"How did I know?" Michelle chuckled. "I'm sorry, but you should already know that.."

A symbol of a dinosaur with a crest appeared on her chest, and in her eyes. Her body began to glow, and darken until it was pitch black. Her jaws elongated and serrated teeth, like miniature T-Rex teeth, grew from her jawline. Her hands stretched, forming three sharp talons. Her feet flexed and bulged, and four talons emerged from her food. A black tail shot out from behind her. White markings and a red underside appeared on her body. On top of her head, a prominent crest, red with orange streaks, grew, and a short feather mane grew from the nape of her neck.

Michelle had transformed into a Guanlong Wucaii. It was the earliest known ancestor to T-Rex. Despite the head ornament, it didn't serve a head butting purpose, but was rather just a display, to allow Guanlongs to recognize one another. Unfortunately this limited her field of vision somewhat, but she could deal with it.

"So Caruso was right... You can transform..." Ms. Moynihan said after witnessing the transformation. "But tell me...that other dinosaur... That wasn't a mutated Troodon. It was perfectly formed. Was that your comrade?" Ms. Moynihan asked, sounding all calm.

'...y-y-yes...' Michelle was a bit surprised that Moynihan knew this. 'How did you know?'

"Actually I didn't. Thank you for telling me." Ms. Moynihan smiled a bit at her own little trick.

Michelle's head snapped back, growling softly. 'Why you...' Her claws fingers flexed impatiently, ready to tear into the old woman just for payback for her little trick. She was not supposed to reveal any information to the Dino Squad.

"I'm not as foolish as Victor believes." Joanne explained as she took out a small cloth. There was a dot of red blood on it. "This is your blood. I knew right away it was contaminated with dinosaur blood. The only reason I didn't say anything earlier is that I didn't want to draw attention to you, or worry Caruso. He was the most suspicious of you." She put the cloth away. "I wasn't sure if you learned how to transform or not, but I see that you have..."

'Wait wait..how did you know my blood was contaminated?' Michelle asked, her glowing eyes widening a little.

"I can smell it. You see, human blood has a certain smell to it, and when contaminated with dinosaur DNA, it gets a unique scent, like a cross between dinosaur and human. I can detect it, being a dinosaur myself." Ms. Moynihan explained. "If this was a plan to get into the lighthouse without arousing any suspicions, you could have at least tried a plan that didn't involve your blood being spilled on the ground."

'Well you seem rather calm.' Michelle noted, bobbing her head up and down. 'I'm about to sabotage your equipment, and you aren't doing... oops..' She realized she said too much. Ms. Moynihan's eyes started to glow as well.

Ms. Moynihan lifted up her cane and pointed it at Michelle. "You've been sent by Victor, haven't you?!" She snapped, sounding angry. Once again Michelle realized she had been tricked. The old woman was indeed clever. "I'll give you one warning. Leave now, and I'll pretend this encounter didn't happen. Refuse, and I'll give you something to remember me by."

Michelle was shocked to see Moynihan act so aggressively. Maybe she did still have some dinosaur psychology in her after all. She would have to tell Victor about this. He may find it rather interesting. She ignored Moynihan's finger pointing towards the stairs, and simply laughed in a dinosaur manner. 'I'm sorry..but I ain't leaving. I have some business to take care off...'

"Then you leave me with no other choice..." Moynihan started to glow, but before she could transform, Michelle slammed into her, knocking her down. She grunted, and struggled to get back up, but something hard slammed into the back of her head. She hit the ground again with a thud, and blackness overcame her. Her eyes closed.

Michelle stood over Ms. Moynihan's still form. She was back in human form, holding a large object in her hand. It was Moynihan's laptop computer. She had quickly picked it up and whacked Moynihan in the head with it to knock her out. She dropped the computer and let it smash into the floor. She ignored the sparks shooting out from it. She made her way towards the monitoring equipment, grinning. She transformed back into her dinosaur self, and went to work. She started to rip at the wires, tearing them out of the sockets before ripping them apart. She used her head to knock the computers off the tables, letting them smash into the floor, and explode as the monitors broke open. Glass shattered all over the floor.

She jumped up on the table, using her feet to kick at the other equipment, smashing it under her weight. The heavy stuff she simply knocked over, and it would break due to the impact on the hard floor. She swung her tail sharply to the side, causing the largest computer to fall down. It didn't break right away, but she would get to it later. There was still other equipment she had to destroy, other computers in the room. She rushed to another part of the room, and clamped her jaws on a smaller computer, and ripped it away from the wall. The wires snapped in her jaws, causing the computer to fall down, and the monitor smashed open.

She repeated this behavior until she had completely destroyed all the other computers, all except for two. The laptop computer might still work, if its lucky, and the large computer where the monitor hadn't smashed open. She strode towards the laptop, and gazed at Ms. Moynihan. She was still knocked out, and Michelle grinned a dino grin. She clamped her jaws on the laptop and, to ensure no one would be able to use it, clenched her jaws tightly, causing the part of the computer where the hard drive was stored to be shattered. She dropped the computer, now completely worthless.

She then turned around. There was just one last computer to take care of. She slowly walked towards it. The monitor was pitch black. It wasn't turned on. She stood over it, and lifted up her leg. She tightened her muscles up as she built up energy in her leg for the kick. She struck down, a loud crack ringing out. Sparks crackled and shot out. Quickly she pulled her leg out before the computer exploded, sending sparks all over the room. Luckily it didn't spark a fire. The sparks probably too weak to do much damage.

Just then she felt something press against her throat. She reared her head back as something heavy jumped on her. She backed up, and began to struggle. Just what was going on? She shook her head back and forth, snapping her jaws at nothingness. She felt the pressure on her throat tighten more, and she heard the voice of her attacker.

"I told you you were going to have something to remember me by..." Ms. Moynihan had woken up faster than Michelle had anticipated. And since she was really a dinosaur, she was able to recover faster from the blow than a human would. Michelle should have realized this. It was foolish of her, on her end, to underestimate Joanne Moynihan like she had earlier.

'Why don't you let go of me, you frail old woman?' Michelle hissed, turning her glowing eyes until she could see Ms. Moynihan through her side vision. 'You're in no condition to fight...especially with an injury such as the one you received thirty years ago!' She managed to grip the old woman's left ankle. Ms. Moynihan's eyes closed tightly and her teeth were clenched. While that area had healed, it still hurt her to this day. It was her weak spot.

Michelle managed to pull the old woman off of her, and she tossed her to the floor. Ms. Moynihan clenched her leg close to her, just like she had when Victor first gave her the injury. She looked up at Michelle with anger in her eyes. "That..was a coward's move..." She said to Michelle accusingly.

'So was sneaking up behind me, and trying to choke me with your cane..' Michelle said, walking up to Moynihan. 'I admit I wasn't expecting someone like you to pull a stunt like that...' She quickly grabbed Ms. Moynihan by the throat with her foot. Guanlong Wucaiis had feet nimble enough to get a grip on certain things and sometimes lift them up. Michelle pulled Moynihan towards the staircase, and gazed down. The black dinosaur then shifted her gaze back to Moynihan, who was struggling to get the talons off her neck. 'Don't worry. I'm sure someone will come by in time...' With that, she roughly tossed Ms Moynihan down the steps. The old woman's body rolled roughly, smashing several times into the ground before she slammed on the bottom floor. Her eyes closed once more and her head lopped to the side.

Now back in her human form, she pulled out her communicator, and contacted Oscura. "Oscura, mission complete. It is successful. Caruso has the device planted on him, and the monitoring equipment has been destroyed. ...Was I spotted? Yes... by Ms. Moynihan." She peered down the steps, where she could see Moynihan's form, with some blood seeping slowly from a wound she apparently received. "But I took care of it. I don't think she's going to do much for quite some time..."

Oscura instructed her to return back to her home before morning came. Michelle rolled her eyes. She still had several hours before dawn, but Oscura did have a point. She would have to flee the scene as soon as possible. She closed up her communicator and ran out of the lighthouse, making sure she locked the door from the inside before shutting it, and disappeared into the forest...

The following morning, as the sun was still low in the sky, the light dim, but still bright enough so that the lighthouse need not shine its light anymore, yet still it glowed, the silence that once befell the area was disrupted by the roaring sound of oncoming motorcycles. Dust kicked up in the air as they zipped by, heading towards the lighthouse.

"I wonder what Ms. Moynihan had in mind today." Caruso said.

"Don't you remember? She wants to train us." Max told him.

"Yeah I know. I mean what kind of training?" Caruso said.

"Uhh..." Max couldn't think of how to respond to that. Was Caruso purposely acting stupid today? He didn't recall Moynihan ever training them any differently. It had always been the same, well except for that time she took them out on the ice. But it was a one-time thing. Moynihan never did anything like that again, so he didn't know how this could be any different. But then again, maybe Caruso is right. Perhaps there is something new in store for them today.

"I just wish I didn't have to wake up so early." Buzz complained. "Why eight in the morning? Why not something more appropriate like... ten? Or noon?"

"You wake up around eight to go to school, so don't complain." Fiona told him, rolling her eyes.

The teens headed up the hill that lead up to the lighthouse. As the lighthouse came into view, they had to shield their eyes. The light shined right into their eyes, and they quickly stopped their motorcycles. The light wasn't too visible because it was light all around them. But it was apparent the light was still on. They could see the faint hit of light shining from the lighthouse, and it was still intense enough that it hurt their eyes.

This wasn't right. Ms. Moynihan is supposed to turn the lighthouse's searchlight off after dawn, when the sun light the surrounding area enough that boats and ships didn't need the lighthouse to guide them. And Moynihan is not the type of person to forget such responsibility.

"Dude..why is the light still on? I thought Ms. Moynihan turns it off in the morning." Rodger asked, pointing at the lighthouse.

"Maybe she overslept?" Caruso suggested.

"She isn't the type of person to do that, Caruso." Max said, staring up at the lighthouse. "And besides, she has an alarm. She could just set it up if she was worried about oversleeping."

Caruso revved his bike, preparing to speed towards the lighthouse. "Does she know how to work an alarm?"

Buzz chuckled. "If she can operate equipment that monitors Raptor Boy, I'm sure she can work a simple alarm."

"Guys I'm worried." Fiona spoke up, removing her helmet and holding it to her side. "Rodger is right. Ms. Moynihan always turns off the searchlight in the morning. Something must be wrong..." She said.

"I'm sure she's fine..." Max started up his motorcycle again. "But we should check to be sure..."

With that, he revved up his Tyranno-Cycle and began to go faster, up the hill, trying to avoid the light that still spun around the cliff. The others followed close behind. The white and red-striped lighthouse seemed to grow in size as they were fast approaching. As they went to the side of the lighthouse, they suddenly stopped short, kicking up dust and dirt. They just noticed something else was wrong.

The door to the garage, where they would test their dinosaur motorcycles, was closed. Moynihan kept this closed only at night to prevent theft. But when she was expecting the Dino Squad, she would open it up shortly before they would arrive. Moynihan clearly didn't forget about them. She would never forget something this important. So why was the garage closed?

The children got off their bikes, and removed their helmets, all looking pretty worried now. Something had to be wrong now. Something must have happened while they were gone. But just what could have happened? No one was in the lighthouse when they left, well no one except Rump and Ms. Moynihan herself. Maybe she was just sick and was taking it easy. No..that couldn't be it. Ms. Moynihan's dinosaur body made her immune to most human-related diseases, and thus couldn't get sick so easily. And she was always a pretty healthy woman, though a tad bit overweight.

And they knew Rump couldn't have done anything. He was such a sweet loving dog, and would never attack anyone on the team. And the poor thing was a bit down in the weather. He wouldn't have had to strength to attack anyone, let alone Ms. Moynihan.

Fiona walked towards the door that led to the lighthouse. "Come on...we have to check up on her." She reached the door and knocked on it gently. "Ms. Moynihan? It's us!" There was no answer, and she peered inside. She couldn't see anyone coming towards the door to answer her, not even Rump.

"Try opening the door." Buzz suggested. "She always unlocks the door for us."

"Good idea." Fiona said. Despite the lighthouse lights being still on and the garage door still locked, maybe Moynihan had at least remembered to unlock the front door for them. She grabbed the knob and gave a few twists and turns. She furrowed her brow, tightening her grip on the knob and trying to push harder. It was still stuck in its position. "That's strange..it's locked.."

"Let me try." Max walked up, grabbing the knob and twisting harder. Fiona was right. It was still locked. "Oh man...why would she still keep this locked..?" He said softly to himself. He began slamming against the door, hoping to break it open so they could get inside. He slammed himself against the door again, but it wouldn't budge. "A little help please?"

The other Dino Squad members came up to the door. There wasn't enough room for all of them to slam together, so they came up with another idea. They each took a position, and placed their hands on the door. "Okay, when I say so, we all push!" Max said, gathering as much strength as he could in his arms and legs. "PUSH!" He shouted and quickly pushed against the door.

Fiona, Caruso, Buzz, and Rodger also began to push, using their legs to hold their ground as their hands pushed against the door. They suddenly heard a clicking sound as the door broke free of the hinges. This was unusual, but upon closer examination, it was revealed this was only due to the door's age. Moynihan really needed to fix it. But for a brief moment, the team was relieved to see she had forgotten to fix it, because if she hadn't they probably never would have gotten in unless they went dino, and if they did, they wouldn't be able to fit through the door, or windows.

The team stepped inside, and took a look around. Almost immediately they saw something was very wrong. The room was a bit of a mess, looking as if some sort of small fight had occurred. They ventured deeper inside, looking around warily. They still hadn't seen any sign of their teacher, but they did spot something else...

"Rump!" Fiona suddenly shouted, rushing past her team mates and knelt down next to a white ball of fur. "What happened to you?" She asked gingerly, inspecting the three cuts in his side. Rump slowly opened up his eyes, and looked up at her. He gave out a whine and licked her hand, as if he was begging for help.

"Oh man...what happened to the poor guy?" Buzz asked, his eyes slightly wide.

"I doubt he gave those cuts to himself.." Max observed, kneeling down to get a closer look. He placed his hand on them gently, careful not to hurt the pitbull any further. "The cuts aren't bleeding anymore, but they may have gotten infected... and..." He had realized something else. The pattern in the cuts told him that this wasn't some intruder that cut Rump with a knife. It was not even a person. "The intruder last night must have been a mutant.. Look at these marks. No human could have done this. These were done by something with talons."

"Talents?" Caruso asked, trying to lighten up the situation. "I have plenty of talents."

"I said talons!" Max said sternly, not liking Caruso making jokes during a serious situation. "Talons!"

"I'm sorry..." Caruso said softly. "I was just trying to lighten up the situation you know..."

"Yeah well..." Max said before he stopped himself when Fiona began talking to Rump.

"Rump..what happened?" Fiona asked. "What did this to you? And where's Ms. Moynihan?" When she asked this, Rump's ears perked up at first, and then flattened against his head. While he didn't understand most of what Fiona had asked him, he did recognize the name Moynihan. He gave a small whimper, trying to get up to his feet.

"Sorry little guy." Buzz knelt down and scooped up Rump in his arms. "But you shouldn't walk with an injury like that."

"His legs aren't broken." Caruso muttered softly, and luckily for him no one heard his comment.

"I still wonder where Ms. Moynihan is." Max asked, turning to Fiona. "I haven't seen her at all since we came in.. In fact I didn't even hear her call out to us. Maybe something really is wrong."

"Thanks for the news flash." Fiona grumbled sarcastically, eyeing poor Rump whom Buzz was carrying.

Buzz started to carry Rump towards the couch so he could set him down on it. "Don't worry little guy. We'll fix you right up.." Just then Rump began to struggle in the embrace. "Oh..what? What are you doing?" Rump began to push himself out of Buzz's arms, barking a few times as he did so. Buzz responded by holding him tighter. "I'm sorry Rump, but you need to rest."

Fiona noticed this and started to walk over. "Maybe he's trying to tell us something?" She suggested.

"Maybe he's just telling you he doesn't want to be held." Rodger noted. "Not all dogs like to be held for very long."

"But Rump always likes to be held." Fiona told him. "At least I've never seen him protest before..."

Finally, when Buzz refused to let the dog go, Rump did the only thing he could do. He shifted into his dinosaur mutant form, and snapped his large jaws wildly in the air. Buzz yelped, and released Rump. The dog landed on his feet and began to run, making his recognizable grunt bark as he did so. He made a turn and started to head towards the staircase. "Hey, come back!" Buzz shouted, rushing after the dog. When they finally reached the stair case, he skidded to a stop. He led out an audible gasp, and his body started to shake a little.

"Buzz...?" Fiona asked, coming up from behind. "What's wrong?" Buzz didn't respond, his eyes glued on something in front of him. Fiona came closer, and now stood next to him, waving her hand in front of his face. "Hello?" Slowly, Buzz lifted up a finger, and pointed. Fiona narrowed her eyes, and slowly turned her head. When she saw the sight, her eyes flew open, and she placed her hand on her mouth, and took a step back. "Oh my...!" She managed to say.

From behind, the others came forward, concerned of their friends' reactions. When they saw the sight themselves, they were stunned, and speechless. Right there, in front of them, was Ms. Moynihan. She lay limp at the base of the stairs, her head turned to the side, and her left ankle red and swollen. She had apparently cut herself, because there was a bit of blood around her in a small pool. They traced their eyes to its source. There was a cut on her side, likely received when she hit the railing if she had fallen at it at the right angle and right speed.

Rump stood over her still form, appearing to be licking her face, whimpering. The teens slowly approached the still form, not sure what to say. Judging from the looks of things, this wasn't an accident. Moynihan had been attacked when she was at her most vulnerable: night, when she was all alone, except for Rump.

"M-Ms. Moynihan..?" Fiona asked as she approached the body at the spiral staircase. She knelt down beside her, and placed her hand on her shoulder.

"Fiona... is that you?" Fiona heard a soft feminine voice say.

Fiona smiled softly. Finally some good news, Ms. Moynihan was still alive. She answered, "Yes..it's me... Can you stand up?" She asked the old woman. Ms. Moynihan groaned slightly, and slowly put her hands underneath her body. She pushed upwards, struggling to put her right foot underneath herself to support her weight. Slowly, she rose up off the ground. But when she placed her left foot on the ground, she immediately grimaced, and fell back to the ground.

"Aaaahh!" She screamed as she clutched her leg to herself, gingerly rubbling the swollen ankle.

Immediately, Max and Rodger rushed over to her. They knelt down at either side of her, and draped an arm over their shoulders. They then slowly lifted her up, allowing her to put her weight on them for support. They gently carried her over to the nearest couch. Carefully, they lowered her into the furniture, careful not to hurt her ankle. "Thank you..." Moynihan managed to say over the pain in her leg. It felt like it had been broken again.

"Ms. Moynihan...what happened here?" Rodger asked as he examined her leg carefully.

Ms. Moynihan slowly turned her pained eyes to Caruso. She took in a few deep breaths before she answered Rodger's question. "You...you were right, Caruso." She took in a deep breath as she tried to relax herself from the shock of what happened last night. "You were right the whole time."

"I was right..?" Caruso asked, tilting his head. "I was right about what?"

"Michelle...she was a spy for Victor." Ms. Moynihan explained as Rodger began to treat her swollen ankle the best he could. "The Troodon attack..it was a plan devised by Michelle and her Troodon-transforming friend...to trick us into letting her into the lighthouse. She broke in last night after you all had left for your homes."

"What...?" Fiona's voice trailed off.

"I was right..." Caruso said, feeling slightly angry. "I was right, and you guys didn't believe me! If you had listened to me..."

"Calm down Caruso! We have more important things to worry about." Max scolded him before sitting down next to Ms. Moynihan carefully. "What exactly did she want here? Did she say?"

"She came to destroy the monitoring equipment." Joanne told him.

"Did you stop her?" Max asked her with an urgent voice.

Joanne slowly shook her eyes, and answered in a solemn tone. "I'm afraid not.. She succeeded. All the computers have been destroyed."

"I don't understand..." Rodger said as he pressed some ice against Moynihan's leg to help reduce the swelling. He had come to the conclusion that the leg wasn't broken; her ankle was just swollen. But still, this was a pretty serious swelling. He didn't think Moynihan will be able to walk for a while. "Why didn't you just go dino? Michelle can't be tough enough to take on a Velociraptor. I mean she's a gir..."

Fiona glared at him angrily. "I'm a girl too, and I'm tough!"

"Sorry..I didn't mean..." Rodger said quickly, looking sorry.

"Michelle can transform too." Joanne said seriously, her eyes slightly narrowed. "Caruso was right. She was a transformer, just like the rest of you, and myself. She had gained the dinosaur form of a Guanlong Wucaii." She explained, finding it a little difficult to talk with the scratches on her neck that she was concealing with her hand.

"And she did this to you...?" Fiona whispered, putting her hand on Moynihan's. She took notice of Moynihan covering up her neck. "What's wrong?" Moynihan slowly removed her hand, and revealed the small but obvious wounds. Fiona gasped softly when she saw small scratches on her neck. "Your throat..."

Moynihan flinched. "That's where she grabbed me..." The female Velociraptor-turned human explained. She pressed her hand against it once again and gently rubbed the area. "She gripped me while in dino mode, and she just threw me down the steps after she had destroyed all the computers..." She winced a little from the pain.

"We should go after her." Caruso said, forming a fist with one of his hands. "We should get her before she reveals any information to Veloci." He began to regret not catching Michelle when he had the chance. She was right there, detransformed. He could have caught her, but he let her go. And after seeing what Michelle had done to Moynihan...

Buzz shook his head solemnly. "Dude..it's too late for that. She must be at Raptor Dyne by now." The attack had taken place at night, which would have given Michelle plenty of time to high tail it out of there before they came. Buzz believed it must have been at least ten hours since the attack, long enough for Michelle to get back to Raptor Dyne and report.

"And with the monitoring equipment destroyed, we can't track her down." Max said, feeling frustrated by this whole situation. He had thought seeing Michelle walking along the side of the road in the direction she was going was a bit weird. She was heading towards the school, but then again this wouldn't have been enough to prove anything. After all he and his team mates go along that same road to go home.

"It's worse than that..." Ms. Moynihan said, eyes narrowed almost dangerously. She adjusted her glasses. "Those computers did more than just offer monitoring capabilities to enable use to find Veloci and his men. It was also our only defense against being spotted..."

"In other words..." Rodger continued for her, looking at his team mates with a worried look on his face. "There's no protective zone anymore. Nothing is powering it, which means, while we can't see Veloci..Veloci can see us..." He glanced at Moynihan, hoping she would say he was wrong, but just like in school, he had calculated it correctly. Moynihan could only give a solemn nod.


	3. Caught

A couple hours passed by, slowly, almost painfully. Rump lay on the couch with bandages around the cuts in his side. A wet cloth was placed on his head to keep a newly formed fever from going up too high. Buzz sat by his side, slowly stroking his fur to comfort the poor dog. Moynihan was still on the couch, her ankle tightly wrapped up. Due to the bad swelling, Rodger recommended she not put pressure on that foot for a while. It wasn't like she could anyway. While she was glad she didn't have a broken leg again, the sprain was pretty bad.

The swelling had gotten a little worse because she had attempted to walk shortly after giving the bad news to the Dino Squad team about Victor being able to find them now. She could only take one step before she knelt down in pain. Her foot couldn't stand much pressure be put on it. With an ankle like this, she won't be able to walk for a while. She hoped that her leg would be better very soon. Rodger had offered to stay with her for the night if her foot wasn't better by nightfall. He had already called his parents about it and they gave him permission. Of course he had to come up with a convincing reason to let him stay, and he couldn't tell them about the dinosaur attack. So he made up a lie about how Moynihan tripped down the stairs because she was a bit clumsy.

Moynihan's other injuries, although mild, were treated. There was a small thin cloth wrapped around her neck. While the cuts weren't that deep, they could still get infected. The cut in her side was also bandaged up. There was some redness on it, but the bleeding had stopped at least. She reached down and gingerly touched her foot. She winced; even the slightest pressure caused her pain. She felt embarrassed that she couldn't stop Michelle, even though she was the stronger of the two dinosaurs.

Nearby, Caruso was pacing across the floor. Despite his friends telling him to calm down, he couldn't get the thoughts of getting back at Michelle out of his mind. And he was also upset that his friends did not listen to him. Perhaps if they had, maybe this would not have happened. Thoughts raced across Caruso's mind, and eventually gave him a headache. He groaned a little and finally sat down on the opposite couch from Joanne. He rubbed his forehead gently, his eyes closed.

Fiona was in the kitchen preparing breakfast. Moynihan was originally going to make it, but since she can't walk, Fiona decided to step in. She fumbled through the cabinets, trying to see what Moynihan kept. Ms. Moynihan hadn't gone shopping yet; the selection was rather limited. She didn't know exactly what the others' tastes were, so she could only take a guess as to what she should make. She wished she had asked everyone what they wanted.

She knelt down and opened up one of the bottom cabinets. She pulled out a rather large box and read the name and description. Chicken Pie, it said. It was rather large, and looked as if it could feed six people. She turned the box around to read the instructions. She smiled a bit. The food wouldn't take that long to make. Just about twenty minutes. She hoped the others can wait that much longer before they eat. She tore open the box and prepared to make the food.

Back in the living room, Max, sitting in the chair where Moynihan would usually do her knitting, raised up the remote to try to turn on the television set. But the TV screen remained black. Frustrated, he opened up the back of the remote to see if it needed new batteries. But the batteries inside were in perfect condition, and there was nothing wrong with the remote. He placed the remote control down and walked over the TV itself. They had been sitting in silence for the past couple hours, and he wanted to try to lighten the mood with some TV.

He knelt in front of the TV and pressed the power button, but all he heard was a click. There was no slight whirring sound of the TV turning out, no static sound coming from the screen, no light shining, nothing. He became confused. He looked behind the TV to make sure it was plugged in. To his shock, the TV was still plugged into the outlet, and just like with the controller, there was nothing physically wrong with the cord, or the television set itself.

Max turned to Moynihan. "Did you forget to pay the electric bill?" He asked her, pointing at the TV. "There's nothing wrong with that TV, but it won't turn on."

"Dude, how can you think of TV at a time like this?" Buzz scolded him, frowning with disapproval. He was surprised Max could think of TV after their base was attacked.

"Hey I'm just trying to..." Max trailed off and became silent. He suddenly felt a little guilty. Perhaps Buzz was right. Perhaps television just isn't something they should concern themselves with right now. He lowered his head slightly, and gave a low sigh. "I'm sorry, Ms. M."

"Don't be." Joanne said gently, giving him a soft smile. She couldn't blame Max for wanting to clear these bad thoughts from his head. It wasn't good to feel so stressed out for too long. She attempted to get up again, but Max quickly rushed over and stopped her by putting his hands firmly on her shoulders and gently pushing her back down.

"You shouldn't be getting up, remember?" Max asked her, his eyes narrowed slightly with concern.

"Oh don't worry about me." Moynihan chuckled through the pain she was feeling in her leg. "I heal faster than humans. I'll be fine by nightfall."

Buzz asked, "But what about what Rodger said? He isn't so sure your leg will be better by nightfall. It is swollen up pretty badly."

But Joanne still felt somewhat optimistic, despite what Rodger Blair had told her. Sprained ankles didn't take long to heal, so she was confident that she would be on her feet long before night came. Although there was one worrying thought in her mind. Rodger had pointed out that if the sprain had been a mild, non-threatening one, it would have healed by now, as she had been with the injury for about ten hours.

But instead of healing, the leg just swelled up more. She wondered if it was because she fell down the steps, or because of her age, at least in human years. In dinosaur years she was still rather young. Dinosaurs could live for at least two hundred years, although humans obviously don't know this. This was another reason Victor saw dinosaurs to be superior. He was rather unimpressed by mankind's short longevity, and sometimes used that as a reason for why dinosaurs should be the masters of the Earth once more.

"I'll be fine." Moynihan assured him. "Don't worry."

"Moynihan." She heard Max ask. She turned her head to face him. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but... is there any reason why the TV won't work?" Max did feel a bit guilty about asking her after Buzz's short scolding. He wasn't sure why he felt that way though. Buzz never got to him like this before. Perhaps it was more or less due to the fact they never faced a situation like this before. Max couldn't shake off the feeling that Victor was now watching them, waiting to plot his next move, and they wouldn't be able to plan a counterattack until it was too late.

"Oh I don't mind at all." Joanne smiled, chuckling lightly. She struggled to sit herself up a little, as she was slouching a little in the couch. "I honestly do not know why the television is not working. I suspect that Michelle must have cut the cable cord while on her little rampage upstairs."

"I don't know why we don't just go find Michelle ourselves." Caruso muttered, even though he already knew finding Michelle was going to be a very difficult task without any monitoring equipment. He crossed his legs as he sat up and put his chin on his hands.

"Caruso, without the equipment, how are we going to find her?" Max asked him somewhat firmly. "And what if this is a trap? What if she wants us to find her and she'll lead us to Veloci?" Boy did this sound familiar to everyone.

"Didn't I say something similar not too long ago?" Caruso asked accusingly. "If you guys had listened to me then, this wouldn't have..."

"Don't blame this all on us!" Max snapped.

"And who am I supposed to blame?!" Caruso barked, lifting his head up to glare at Maxwell. "I can't blame myself! I'm the one who realized she was a threat! You people were the ones who wouldn't listen to me! And now look what happened!"

Max bared his teeth, his hand forming a fist. Buzz grimaced, knowing this was not going to end well. Moynihan remained silent, unsure of what she should do. Normally she would know, but right now, her mind was almost empty, and she couldn't think of one thing to say to prevent the boys from fighting.

"We aren't the ones to blame, Caruso!" Max insisted, feeling as though he wanted to strangle Caruso for his attitude. He desperately tried to control his anger.

Caruso gritted his teeth in frustration. "Yeah well you guys were the ones who ignored my warnings, so in a way you helped cause this happen..." He had muttered this, hoping Max didn't hear him. But unfortunately, Max HAD heard him.

Max, now visibly shaking with anger, was trying to calm himself down, but failed to do so, and what he said next he would soon learn to regret. "Well maybe if you weren't such an immature brat who cared only about his stupid hair and getting famous, maybe I would take you more seriously!" He snapped at the blue-haired boy sitting down in front of him. Max allowed himself to release all this pent up anger he's held against Caruso for quite sometime.

The room fell silent. Moynihan could hardly believe what she just heard. Max had always been the more responsible one in the group, and had never lost his temper before. He would usually be the one to try to settle down a situation. Sure he may have gotten upset in the past, but he had never really yelled like this before, nor had he intentionally insulted anyone like that.

Buzz was in shock as well. He blinked a few times, unsure on how to process what he just saw and heard. He had never known Max to get to this upset. He slowly shook his head, sighing softly as he petted Rump on the head. "Dude...that was harsh..." He spoke up, loud and clear enough for Max to hear him.

But Maxwell was still angry, still having a bit more anger to release. He quickly turned around, his hands still tightly clenched into fists. Buzz nearly gasped at the sight of the angry jock. He couldn't understand how Caruso's attitude could get him this angry. He didn't believe it was even possible for Max to snap at Caruso. He always seemed so tolerate of the boy's behavior, although he did disapprove whenever Caruso tried to do something just so he could get famous.

"Yeah well he deserved it! Caruso needs a wake up call!" Max snapped, continuing his short but fueled rant. "I'm sick of his selfish ways! I'm sick of his attitude! I'm sick of him seeking fame! I'm sick of him talking about his so-called perfect hair! I..." He stopped when he felt a large strong hand on his shoulder.

"That's enough." Rodger said, frowning a bit at Max. "I think you've said more than you should have..." He gestured towards where Caruso was sitting.

Caruso's eyes had widened up all the way, and his jaws had dropped open from the sheer shock of Max's words. He had been scolded many times in the past for his behavior, but this time, this time was different. Max had gone much farther than just simply reprimanding him. He had outright INSULTED him. Caruso felt a pain in his stomach as he swallowed, trying to mentally digest what had just occurred. He took a slightly shaky breath, and spoke softly, "Stupid hair..? Immature brat...?" He finally looked away from Max, and stared at the blank TV.

Max's frown slowly faded away as he eventually realized what he had just said. As the realization hit, a strong pang of guilt hit him in the gut. How could he have said that to Caruso? How could he talk about his friend in such a harsh manner? Max growled softly to himself, and put his face in his hand for a few seconds, and he took a step towards Caruso. "Caruso I..."

"What? You haven't said enough?" Caruso said with a slight bitterness in his voice and turned his head to look at Maxwell in the eyes.

Max hesitated a few seconds, feeling a bit unnerved by Caruso's almost cold stare. He had never seen this look before. It felt almost foreign, as Caruso never stared at him, or anyone, like this before. "I-I... I'm sorry." Max told him gently. "I shouldn't have said those things. I'm so sorry."

Caruso's gaze softened up as well, but he was still upset with Max. He simply looked away, sighing a bit before getting up off the couch. He started to walk towards the door. "I'm..going out for some fresh air." He said before disappearing outside. As soon as he was outside, Buzz gave a slight glare at Max. He never would have thought he would see the day when Max would snap like this, let alone say such terrible things to one of his own friends.

"Smooth move, Maxwell." Buzz said, folding his arms angrily. "I can't believe you said those things to him..."

"Neither can I." Moynihan chimed in, stating her disapproval as well. "Just what came over you, Max?"

"I..I don't know..." Max answered, his shoulders slumped a little. He closed his eyes as he rubbed his forehead with one of his hands. "I really don't know..I just..saw red and snapped." Ms. Moynihan slowly shook her head.

Joanne looked at Buzz. "Buzz, can you go out and check on Caruso? Perhaps get him to come back inside?" As Buzz left to get Caruso, she turned her gaze to the jock standing in front of her. "And as for you, come here."

"What is it?" Max asked her tentatively. He already could tell he was in trouble.

Joanne gave him a small frown. "We need to talk."

Not too far from the lighthouse, a red truck was approaching. At a glance from afar, nothing particularly special could be noted, but upon closer examination, this truck had the signature dinosaur jaws that Victor's vehicle had. The truck was traveling along the road that would eventually lead up to the lighthouse. They would get there relatively soon, in possibly five to ten minutes. The truck was carrying a rather large cage, and housed the dinosaur helicopter.

Inside one part of the truck, Victor sat down on his chair, a computer in front of him. The screen was glowing, and their destination was flashing rapidly. Victor could tell they were getting close. The flashing would speed up when they got close to their destination. And he had seen the lighthouse before, so he knew where it was. He punched in a few more keys before turning around to greet Oscura and Michelle, who were standing in the room with him.

Victor smiled at Michelle and Oscura. He had received the good news from Michelle. The plan had been a success. All the monitoring equipment had been destroyed. The Dino Squad had no way of detecting his arrival. There was still the slight worry that they would have a hand-held tracker. But he couldn't worry about that now. This may be his only chance at catching one of these so called perfect dinosaurs.

He was also pleased with Oscura. After all, if it weren't for her and her poisonous Troodon saliva, Michelle may not have gotten in at all. She put on quite the convincing act, and did a great job in fooling the Dino Squad into thinking Michelle was actually in any danger at all. There is one thing that Victor forgot to ask about, something that the two girls failed to report to him. "Did you get the tracking devise on Caruso specifically?" Victor asked Michelle.

"Yes, sir." Michelle said dutifully, clasping her hands together almost like a villain would when they are plotting or scheming about something. "The device is on his hand. The device is fully functional and should turn on when you activate it."

Victor grinned and then turned back to his computer. "At long last, I am finally one step closer into bringing back the dinosaurs! Finally mankind's time is drawing to a close! And little Caruso is going to help me not only bring the dinosaurs back to their rightful place as rulers of this planet, but he will also help me bring Joanne back to me!"

As Victor continued with his speech, Oscura and Michelle looked at each other, both clearly annoyed by Victor, but they dare not say anything to him. They knew what he was capable of. It is not wise to anger a six foot tall Velociraptor who had sickle shaped talons that could rip out their stomachs in a single blow.

"I still wonder why he must do this all the..." Oscura muttered a bit loudly, but her mouth was quickly covered by Michelle's hand.

"Shhh! You want him to hear?" Michelle scolded the younger girl.

"Don't want me to hear what...?" They froze as they heard Victor speak to them. They turned their heads to see Victor was out of his seat and standing about a foot away from them. His eyes were slightly narrowed, and his eyes had a slight glow to them. But he hadn't taken an aggressive posture, and he wasn't baring his teeth.

"Oh nothing..nothing.." Michelle quickly said, hoping to calm Victor down in case he was angry with them.

"I don't think it was nothing." Victor Veloci said, eyes narrowing further as he brought out a hand, now transformed into a Velociraptor's hand, the sharp claws gleaming in the light. "I heard you two speaking, and I know what you said. We Velociraptors have excellent hearing you know.." He enclosed his hand around Oscura's neck, and, effortlessly, lifted her off the ground before shoving her a bit roughly against the wall of the truck. "Don't you two ever backtalk me like that again, you hear me?!"

"But we didn't backtalk you.." Oscura protested, struggling a little in Victor's grasp. "Back talking is when someone responds in a rude and disrespectful manner, and I wasn't responding to anything you were saying..."

Victor narrowed his eyes a bit more before releasing Oscura. "All right then..." He hadn't known why he nearly lost his temper. He was probably just a bit worried, since these two were the only perfect dinosaurs on his side. Since he found out about the Dino Squad, he'd been fearful they would try to convert Oscura and Michelle, turn them against him. Yeah that must be the reason. He was just overly worried that's all.

Oscura slowly rose to her feet, rubbing her throat. Michelle slowly approached her. While the two didn't particularly get along, Michelle did sometimes sympathize with Oscura whatever she got hurt physically. "Are you all right?"

The black-haired seventeen year old scoffed a bit, though she was still rubbing the skin on her neck where Victor had grabbed her. "Well of course I'm all right." Oscura chuckled, slowly eyeing Victor from her position. "Is it just me, or does Dr. Veloci look kinda..cute when he's mad?" Michelle's eyes widened, and she smacked herself in the face at this comment. Victor overheard the comment himself, and was trying his best not to turn around and say something.

Victor focused his attention on getting at the lighthouse without getting spotted. The element of surprise would be the key factor in their success. While their radar systems were disabled, they could still spot them along the road. Knowing that they were getting close, Victor grabbed a switch and pulled it down, which activated the stealth mode of his truck. It became encased in an invisible forcefield which made it completely transparent, as well as everything on the inside. As he released the handle, they were only a couple minutes away from their destination...

Caruso sat down just outside of the lighthouse, in indian style on the grass, his back against the wall of the large building. His head rested on his hands, and he gave a long heavy sigh. His mind kept replaying the incident that had just occurred inside the house over and over again. Max's word did cut into him, not just because of the words he said, but because he was his friend, and he still said those things. Caruso looked over at the horizon. He hadn't really planned on just taking off. He didn't want to worry the guys, and with no way to track, they wouldn't know where he was.

Caruso began to ponder if Max was right. Maybe if he did act more like how they did, they would take him more seriously. He quickly shook the thought out of his mind. There was really nothing wrong with wanting to become famous, was there? A lot of people seek fame and fortune, not just him. He recalled another individual like himself, O'Ryan, who he had at one time called in so he could see his friends as dinosaurs. He quickly regretted ever being a fan of O'Ryan after how the man treated him, and how he had thrown him, a young teen, at a T-Rex just so he could get a great shot of the large animal.

He did not consider him as bad as O'Ryan. Sure, he is sometimes desperate for fame, but he would never go forth with his plans if it meant risking injury to his friends. In the end, he ended up destroying O'Ryan's footage as revenge. He smiled a little at the memory. It was kind of ironic how that obsessive man seemed to quickly forget the incident when Max prank called him about a dinosaur sighting.

Max... Caruso's smile quickly faded as he thought of that particular boy. Oh why was he letting this eat away at him? Max just lost his temper. He didn't really mean anything he had said...or had he? The boy did apologize for what he said, so why was the pain still there? Perhaps the words had stung more than he had thought initially. He thought about going back inside. He had the strangest sensation that he wasn't alone, that something was coming. He quickly stood up.

The door opened up, catching his attention. Buzz peeked out the door, and quickly found him. He gave a small nervous smile. "Hey... are you feeling all right?" The spiky-haired kid asked as he stepped out, and closed the door behind him.

"Oh...hi Buzz...I'm..fine.." Caruso said almost absentmindedly, turning his head away. "What brings you out here?"

"Ms. Moynihan sent me to check on you." Buzz explained as he approached Caruso. He could tell Caruso was not himself, with the way he just seemed so...distant. Caruso was a social person who craved attention and loved to talk. Max's words must have hurt him more than originally believed. Caruso would not even make eye contact. "Why..don't you come back inside?" Buzz asked after a couple seconds of silence. "We can talk this over."

"Are you sure Max would want me back in there?" Caruso asked somewhat darkly.

"Forget what he said." Buzz said, reaching out to place a hand on Caruso's shoulder. "He didn't know what he was saying. Now come back inside, okay? Moynihan would like to speak with you."

Caruso stared at his green-haired friend for a couple seconds, as if he wasn't sure what to do. He glanced back at the door, sighing once again. There was something that was preventing him from going back inside. Maybe he was fearful that Max would yell at him again. It was understandable. But maybe he was just getting worked up over nothing. Max seemed pretty sincere in his apology, and his expression did say that he had never meant to say those things to him.

"I...I'm not sure." Caruso finally said, turning his head away once more. "I mean...sure Max has gotten upset with me in the past. I know that..but this time..it was different. He insulted me, Buzz..."

Buzz frowned slightly. He had to admit himself that he wasn't too thrilled with how Max treated Caruso just now. Max had never lost his temper like that before, and it pained Buzz to see him just snap under pressure like that. He did understand that Max being upset with the situation and Caruso's attitude causing him to become more sensitive. But he thought Max was strong enough to control himself if he felt his feelings of anger were spiraling out of control. But after this, he realized he had been wrong.

Buzz nodded. "Yeah, I know it hurts, Caruso." The punk teen said sympathetically. "But you have to understand, you can't just run from situations like this."

Caruso frowned. "I am not running." The blue-haired teen responded, a bitter tone in his voice. Buzz opened up his mouth to speak, but Caruso wasn't done talking yet. "And he's..." He gave a sigh. "He's not the only one who said something he didn't mean..." Caruso remembered what he had said in the lighthouse, a statement he knows Max heard but he wasn't sure if the others had heard him. Now thinking about it, he wasn't sure if he could really blame Max for becoming upset with him.

"I didn't hear you say anything." Buzz said, his left eyebrow cocked up a bit. "All I've seen is Max suddenly snapping at you as though you provoked him." Buzz ran his hand through his green mohawk. "Just what did you say to him, anyway?"

Caruso gulped. He was hesitant in telling Buzz. After all he could easily have a similar reaction as Max had back in the lighthouse. But if he didn't tell Buzz, he would probably just feel worse. He knew that talking to someone about it is a good way of feeling better, and that holding it it for so long can cause problems."I...I said that you guys had helped Michelle cause this when you refused to listen to my warning." He rubbed his head as he was saying this. "I-I didn't really mean to say it. It just..slipped out."

"Dude..." Buzz said sternly but gently. "It wasn't any of our faults. We could not have predicted this would happen. If we had listened to your warning, Caruso, I'm sure Michelle would have thought of another way to get into the lighthouse. From what I've witnessed on that online dinosaur game, she is really good at sneak attacks and improvising. I was just lucky to have beaten her in that game." He tried to offer a comforting smile. "You did your best. At least you tried. That counts for something, doesn't it?"

"Yeah...I guess so." Caruso said silently, his gaze fixated on the ground.

"Come on...let's get back inside." Buzz said calmly, gripping Caruso's arm and started to pull him towards the door to the lighthouse. Caruso pulled his arm back, which confused Buzz. He persisted, gripping Caruso's arm again, tighter this time. "We shouldn't worry the others."

Just then, Caruso started to hear something. It was faint at first, but gradually, the sound was becoming louder. It sounded like it was coming from a large vehicle. He could almost hear tires rolling across the surface of the ground. The boy turned his head towards the horizon once more, in the opposite direction of the water that crashed just below the cliff the lighthouse was resting. He stood his ground, and attempted to free his arm from Buzz. But the grip was tight.

So instead, Caruso began to pull Buzz backwards towards him. He was about the same build as Neil Buzmati, so he might have a chance in getting him away from the door. If whatever he was hearing was important, Buzz and the others should know about it. And if whatever was coming happened to be danger, he knew he couldn't fight it alone. He would need some help, and Buzz was the only person outside with him at the time.

Buzz felt himself being pulled back and away from the door. "Whoa!" He cried as he nearly lost his balance while being pulled backwards. He quickly released Irwin and turned around. "Dude, what's the big deal? Why did you pull me back like that?"

Caruso put a finger to his lips and blew, making a "Shhhh!" sound. He pointed slowly in the direction he was hearing the sound. "I think I hear something, coming from that direction." He spoke softly, gazing a bit cautiously in that direction, but not acting genuinely scared. It was more of being concerned. It was probably nothing, though.

"Caruso..there's nothing there." Buzz explained. He was becoming a little confused. "I don't hear anything either..."

Caruso gritted his teeth. "That's because you aren't listening close enough!" The blue-haired teen said in an urgent tone. "Listen very closely! I hear something approaching the lighthouse!"

"I don't get what you..." The sound was becoming louder now. And Buzz's ears were finally picking it up. Spending so much time listening to loud punk music in his room and, sometimes, playing video games with the volume turned so high had started to affect his hearing. This would explain why Caruso had heard the sounds before he had, why it taken Buzz longer to pick up the sounds. His hearing wasn't that much different, but it still took him a few seconds longer than Caruso to realize something was approaching the lighthouse. He snapped his head in the same direction the other boy had first heard the sounds. "Who could possibly want to come out this far?"

"I think I have an idea of whom." Caruso said in a serious tone. His mind replayed what Moynihan had told him a few hours earlier. There could only be one person, in his mind, that would show any interest at all in the lighthouse, only one person who would want to travel this far for anything. Well only one person he could think of that wasn't the Dino Squad, Rump, or Moynihan. "Michelle must be leading Veloci here. Veloci's coming to the lighthouse!"

"What?!" Buzz gasped. Before he could say anything, he caught a glimpse of something approaching the lighthouse. While his hearing was not as sharp as Caruso's, video gaming has done something else for him. It made him more aware of his surroundings. And he could see something, faint, but growing larger, heading towards the lighthouse. He squinted to get a good look, and he could see something glowing. "Is that...?" He pointed. It was hard for him to explain what it looked like. It was almost like a cloud with a bluish white tinge to it.

Caruso now noticed it too. He grimaced a bit. He had seen this before. Victor's invisible forcefield had a flaw in it. While most of the time it did remain invisible, once in a while, for a certain length of time, it would give off some kind of bluish glow, and that's exactly what he and Buzz were seeing now. Now there could be no more doubts in their mind. "Victor Veloci! We've got to warn the guys!" He said urgently, then turning swiftly to the door, Buzz not far behind.

Back inside the lighthouse, Fiona hadn't come from the kitchen yet. The food was still cooking, and she was unaware of what had happened downstairs. Rodger had went upstairs to try and find some more medicine to help with the swelling in Moynihan's leg. In the living room, Rump had fallen asleep on the couch, once in a while kicking a leg as he dreamed. Max sat on the same couch as Moynihan. The old woman was speaking to him about the incident that had just took place. His head was slightly bowed, but he kept eye contact with his mentor. Ms. Moynihan's eyes were narrowed, and it was clear she was angry. But she spoke in a gentle calm voice, and she didn't attempt to raise it.

"So do you understand what I am telling you, Maxwell?" Joanne asked, her hand gently gripping Max's shoulder.

"Yes, ma'am. I..understand." Max responded softly. He turned his head away. He was starting to feel even more guilty. Moynihan had just given him a lecture on anger management and how he shouldn't take it out on his friends. He was feeling even worse about what he had said to Caruso. "I apologize..."

Professor Moynihan shook her head. "I'm not the one you should be apologizing to." She turned her gaze towards the door.

"I already apologized to him." Max said.

"You still need to talk to him." Moynihan told him. "You two won't feel better until you settle things together. I'm sure Caruso knew you hadn't meant those things, but it would make him feel better to hear you tell him that yourself."

"You're right..I..." Max started to say before something loud caught his and Moynihan's attention. They heard the door knob wobble and turn, and as they turned, they saw the door slamming open. The sound was so loud that Rump woke up from his sleep and looked around as if someone was attacking. In a matter of seconds, Caruso and Buzz rushed inside. Their eyes were wide, and they rushed inside. Something was definitely wrong. "Caruso! Buzz! What's the matter?" Max asked, quickly rising from the couch.

"Victor!" Caruso said urgently, pointing a finger towards the outside of the building. "Victor is coming here!"

"We heard his truck!" Buzz added on.

Moynihan was so shocked she almost tried to stand up, but quickly remembered the injury on her ankle. If it truly was Victor coming, she would have no way to defend herself. Even transforming wouldn't change the condition in her leg. "Vic is heading here?" She asked, but sensing she already knew the answer. "After all these years, he's finally found my hideout..." It was hard for her to completely accept this. She had gone through much to make sure Victor would never find her again.

"Thanks to Michelle yes." Caruso said, nodding his head slowly. There was a sense of anger to the edge of his voice as he said that.

Max took in a sharp gasp as he heard this news and then turned to Moynihan. "What are we going to do?" He asked her, sounding alarmed by the situation. They had never really faced off with Victor before. They had always used stealth to escape, and there had been few battles, if they could even be called that. The only time Max himself faced off with Victor was when he used his head to throw Vic into the snow during the winter.

But to actually fight him... Despite their encounters, the group still didn't have much of a clue on just what Victor was truly capable of, and they didn't know just how well he could fight. But considering that he and Moynihan had been facing off for a long time and she STILL hasn't been able to stop him for good, he's probably a more powerful being than they were led to believe. And to make matters worse, Victor had numbers on his side. He had so many humans working for him, that for every one they defeated, two or three more could show up to take their place. It was like trying to battle with an ant colony that grew to the size of humans.

Joanne sighed. "We have no choice... We have to fight Victor. We cannot allow him to destroy the lighthouse." The old woman said, putting pressure on her foot to see if she can stand up. A sharp pain went up her leg and she quickly lifted the pressure off her foot, and the pain quickly ceased. "Ooo..." She moaned. Her leg hadn't gotten any better. She needed more anti-inflammatory medicine.

"But what if he's not after the lighthouse?" Buzz asked her. Sure, destroying the lighthouse would be a major setback, but if Victor wanted to stop the Dino Squad once and for all, he would do something else. "What if he's coming here..for us? I mean what's to stop him now? He's tried to capture us before."

"And we always broke out." Caruso explained. He and Buzz were both captured by Veloci in the past. "And when we took off, he gave up the chase."

"Yeah but, Caruso," Maxwell said to the blue-haired teen, "That was because Veloci did not know where our lair was. We could turn back into human and head to the lighthouse, and Victor would be left in the dark. But now, he knows where our lair is. Even if we manage to escape, he knows where our lair is, and can still come after us. This time, there's no where we can run."

They heard footsteps coming from the stairs. Fiona soon arrived down, a smile on her face. She rubbed her hands together using a cloth, cleaning up some food that got on her hands. "Hey guys, breakfast is rea-" She quickly stopped, her smile evaporating as she saw the concerned looks on their faces. "Hey..what's wrong?" She asked as she placed the cloth down.

No sooner had she asked that did Rodger show up as well with a bottle of medicine and a surgical cloth in his hands. He made his way towards Moynihan and knelt down by her. Then realizing the looks on everyone's faces, he asked, "Yo..what's the matter?" He asked as he put some of the medicine on the cloth and began to remove the cloth that had been on Moynihan's leg for the past couple hours.

Max frowned. "Victor's coming here." The jock said quickly, adjusting his green jacket. "He knows we are here."

"What?! Are you sure?!" Rodger asked, so surprised he nearly dropped the bottle out of his hands and spilling it all over the floor. As it started to slip from his hands, he had quickly caught it with a firm grip.

"So soon?! But I thought..." Fiona started to say. But she trailed off and wasn't sure how to complete her sentence.

"Thought what?" Joanne spoke up once more. She pushed her glasses against her face as she continued to speak. "Did you think he would hesitate on an opportunity like this? I've known Vic for a very long time, and he is not the type of person who would waste any time when something like this arises, oh no." Moynihan explained to her students. "He surely knows of Michelle's success in her mission, and he must know the lighthouse is where we've been hiding. He knows we have been weakened. What's to keep him from coming here and attacking when he knows he has the upper hand?"

Joanne winced a little as she felt Rodger put some pressure on her injured ankle. He was applying some medicine directly to the skin. He then took the new, clean cloth and began wrapping it around the leg tightly. The medicine was very cold and, though surprised the elderly woman at first, felt very soothing to the hot, swollen ankle. When Rodger finished tying the cloth, she offered him a small smile. "Thank you, Rodg."

"What are you going to do?" Rodger asked as he stood back up. The african-american eyed the window cautiously, expecting to see Victor showing up any second. "With that ankle, you can't possibly go out there and face Victor. He would surely detect that you were hurt and go after you first. You're an easy target, Ms. M."

"Don't worry about me." Joanne Moynihan replied. She forced a laugh. "I'll be all right."

"So what exactly should we do?" Fiona motioned towards the door. "Victor will be here any second."

Moynihan carefully grabbed her necklace, and looked at the small object that was attached to it. She thought about telling them about a secret storage in the lighthouse where she kept her heavy-duty weaponry. This could give them the upperhand. But these weapons were too dangerous for them, she believed. They required training. If used incorrectly, the results could be disastrous. No, she couldn't risk it. She let go of the claw-shaped object and sighed. She looked up at her students. She knew this day would come, the day that they would actually have to fight Victor Veloci, not just foul his plans.

"As I stated before, we...you might fight Veloci. There's no getting out of it this time." Moynihan explained. "You must be cautious. Victor can be very clever. If he is coming here for a specific reason, he knows how to turn the battle in his favor and get what he wants."

"So...how do we defeat him?" Max asked her.

Moynihan looked up at him, and her eyes narrowed slightly. "Remember what you've learned from you previous encounters with mutants, and from what I've taught you in training. They will help you in this battle." She thought she had finished, but then something else came to mind. "And remember..." The teens waited for her to finish her sentence. "Apart, you may not stand a chance against Victor. But stand as one, and you may be able to drive him away."

Victor's truck approached the lighthouse, and slowed down as it got within a few feet of the lighthouse. The truck was driven carefully around to the back of the lighthouse where Victor felt would help them avoid being detected right away, in case they looked out the windows. The door opened up, and the drivers stepped out. In a few seconds, Victor also stepped out of the vehicle, and he glared at the lighthouse. "So this is where you have been hiding, Joanne." He walked up to the lighthouse and placed his hand on its surface. He saw a glint in the corner of his eye and he turned to see the water below him. He glared out at the water in front of him. "I should have known you would pick a location such as this.. where you can help these dirty apes all the time..."

In anger, Victor slammed his foot against the lighthouse. He winced and pulled his foot back. "Stupid weak creatures..." He cursed under his breath. "I cannot wait until my plan comes full circle, so that I may not need to use this wretched body again.." He glanced at the drivers. "Get back in the truck." He glared at the white and red building. "I'll handle this myself."

"Hey..what about us?" Victor heard voices from behind him, and he groaned softly. He turned around to face the two teenaged perfect dinosaurs. The one that had spoken was Oscura. The raven-haired girl folded her arms in an almost impatient manner. "Michelle and I helped arrange this. Aren't we going to get to help you capture this Caruso kid? After all, you could easily be outnumbered. At least with us you'd have a better chance."

"I don't need any help." Victor insisted. "I know what I am doing." He held up a small device in his hand. "All I need to do is flush them out, and when I get close enough to Caruso, I'll turn this on, which will activate the tracker on his hand, and it will stun him, and allow my men to take him away."

"And what if they try to free him?" Michelle noted. "They could easily chew through the ropes in dino mode."

"Hmm..." Victor thought to himself. They did have a point there. Even if he could get Caruso within his grasp like he had before during that darn football game, they could still free him just like they did before. He could fend them off himself, but going at it alone seemed too risky. And he may not get a chance like this again. If this attack fails, they'll be on alert, and it'll be harder to get access to the lighthouse without somehow alerting them, and harder still to catch them off guard.

Perhaps his odds could improve if he let Michelle and Oscura join in. They were young, yes, but they had potential. Michelle has already managed to wound Ms. Moynihan and Oscura had inflicted an infectious bite to one of the team members. While they did not have the forms of large dinosaurs like the Dino Squad did, they were more agile. Their smaller forms allowed them to maneuver quickly, so they could easily dodge any attack, and perhaps even manipulating them in some way with their swift movements.

"All right then, you can help me." Victor told them finally after he analyzed that his chances of getting Caruso away from the Dino Squad were much higher with Michelle and Oscura's help than it was without them.

"YES!" Oscura shouted, jumping straight up like an excited little kid in a new candy store.

Michelle quickly moved away from Oscura, feeling a bit embarrassed by the younger teen's behavior. "Geeze...calm down will ya? You don't want them to hear you, do you?" She said angrily, cautiously eyeing the lighthouse. She was afraid that Oscura's outburst may have alerted the Dino Squad to their presence.

"Well sorry." Oscura snapped back bitterly. She turned to Victor, her expression now softened and calm. "So what should we do? What's the plan?"

"Confusion." Veloci said, his eyes starting to glow. "Use your agility to confuse the group, and keep them occupied long enough for me to single out Caruso and get him away from the others."

"..that's all?" Oscura's arms fell to her side and she let out a groan of disappointment. "I was hoping for something more!"

Michelle nudged her hard in the arm with her elbow. "Shut it! So..sir, is there anything else you want us to do while we're out there doing the distracting?" She asked.

"Yes there is." Victor said as he headed back to his dino-truck for something. "Don't bite Caruso with that infectious mouth of yours, Oscura. I want him to be in perfect condition when we get him back to my lab..."

They then became frozen in their place when they heard the lighthouse door squeak as it slowly opened up. Victor disappeared behind his truck to wait to make his move. He gave a nod of approval to Michelle and Oscura, letting them know they can move in to perform their part of the mission. Oscura ran along the right side of the building while Michelle took the left side. They crept slowly along the edge of the building, flat against its cold surface.

They each took their place at either side of the lighthouse, and waited for the Dino Squad to walk out of the door. They didn't have to wait too long. Only a few seconds after the door had opened up, a jock, presumably the leader of the team, stepped outside and took a good look around, even checking the left and right sides of the building. However, he did not see Michelle and Oscura hiding. And as the jock left the building, four more teens appeared behind him. Three other males and only one of them was a female.

"I don't see anything out here." Buzz commented as they walked out onto the huge front yard of the lighthouse.

"You can't always rely on just your eyes, man." Rodger said, smiling a bit.

Max turned to Fiona, who was their resident bloodhoundasaurus. Making a gesture towards her, he asked, "Fiona, do you mind..?"

Fiona gave a nod, understanding what he was going to ask her. She didn't know why he didn't do it himself though. A Tyrannosaurus had a more sensitive snout than she did, or at least that's what she had believed herself. Her symbol glowed, and her body began to shift as a result. Her legs became longer, thinner and yet muscular. Her mouth elongated and sharp teeth began to replace her human teeth. A huge brown sail emerged from her back, and her hands grew sharp hooked claws. Then a tail stretched out, nearly as long as her body.

She turned her head up in the air, and began sucking it in through her nostrils. She repeated this a few times, collecting the scents that hung in the air around her. She lowered her head, and her eyes narrowed further, the glow slightly intensifying in her eyes. She gave a soft growl as she constantly shifted her gaze left and right.

"Fiona, what is it?" Max asked, tensing up to prepare for a fight with whoever was there.

'I smell Veloci's truck. It smells like its right behind the lighthouse.' Fiona said using her thoughts. 'And I also smell Michelle and...someone else, maybe her Troodon partner, standing at the sides of the lighthouse. It's an ambush!' She said, sounding alarmed. She quickly moved away from the building and turned to face it, letting out a roar. She wasn't about to be attacked from the sides or from behind.

Immediately, the Dino Squad turned to face the newfound danger. Max and Rodger turned to face the right side of the building. Caruso and Buzz turned to face the left side of the building. They quickly transformed into their dinosaur selves before the enemy could come out and attack them while they were still human. No sooner that they transformed did Michelle and Oscura jump out from their hiding places, each wearing a mischievous smile on their faces. They did not look genuinely evil; but rather they looked more like they just wanted to have some fun, and decided to mess with them. But looks can be deceiving. The Dino Squad prepared themselves. Veloci must not be far behind.

"Well well well, what do we have here?" Oscura asked mockingly as she began to walk in a continued small circle in front of Max and Rodger. She looked up at the Tyrannosaurus Rex and Styracosaurus without fear. She instead only scoffed, and made a small chuckle. "Such big bad boys aren't ya? You've been naughty... You need to be taught a lesson!"

Her symbol glowed and she quickly shifted into a red and pink Troodon. As Max tried to sink his teeth into her, the Troodon quickly ducked down, and he missed. Screeching, she attempted a bite, but was knocked away by Rodger's charge. She rolled across the ground a little, but quickly got back up.

Michelle however just remained still. She glanced at the Pteranodon and Stegosaurus that stood in front of her. She took note that the Stegosaurus was Caruso. She would have to make a move that wouldn't cause any serious harm to Caruso. "So are either of you going to make a move?" She asked tauntingly. She smirked at the green Pteranodon. "What about you, you flying rat?" Buzz snapped his head back as he opened his tooth-filled beak in anger. Without thinking he lunged forward, his beak wide open to attack Michelle.

But this is exactly what Michelle had wanted him to do. She grinned as she quickly side stepped Buzz. The green Pteranodon squealed as his beak struck into the ground, causing him to become stuck. Taking advantage of this situation, she shifted into her Guanlong Wucaii form and lunged onto his back. She bit into his back and began to tear at his flesh. Buzz yanked his beak free and lifted up his head and let out a loud screech of pain. Despite his pain, Michelle didn't let go of Buzz's back, instead biting with more ferocity.

'Buzz!' Caruso cried and he charged forward. His massive tail raised up and swung down. The spikes and tail slammed against Michelle's body, causing the black raptor-like dinosaur to scramble onto the ground, landing on her back. Caruso charged forward again, raising up on the ground to slam his body weight onto the Guanlong. Michelle quickly dodged, and all Caruso ended up hitting was dirt and grass. But instead of attacking him, Michelle went back to Buzz, and slashed at him with one of her paws.

Buzz quickly opened up his wings and jumped into the air. Michelle's claws only slashed through air. She missed him by a couple inches. She looked up, snarling in frustration. She jumped up, and tried to snap her jaws into Buzz's tail. But it always seemed to be out of reach for her. She once again felt herself being knocked away by Caruso's tail. She scrambled back to her feet and shrieked at him, but did not try to attack. She had to follow Victor's wishes and leave him unharmed.

'This is going to be fun eh?' Oscura joked as she squared off against Max and Rodger.

'You have no idea what you are getting yourself into.' Rodger said, lowering his head. The sunlight glinted off of the sharp edges of the horns.

'Either leave now, or suffer the consequences.' Max said as he opened up his massive jaws, revealing his six inch teeth, powered by the huge muscles in his jaws. He and Rodger were hoping to avoid waisting energy on the Troodon by trying to scare it away.

'Oooo... I'm shaking, I'm shaking.' Oscura said mockingly, holding up her paws like a human would when they were scared. 'You two are too big and slow to catch me. I could go inside the lighthouse and kill off your precious mentor faster than you can detransform and get inside to stop me!'

'That's it..you're going down!' Rodger shouted as he dashed forward, his head lowered. Oscura chuckled, and waited for the right moment to dodge. Just then, just as Oscura was about to dodge, a set of golden jaws clamped down around her. Rodger stopped his charge just in time. Oscura let out a loud screech as she tried to squirm out of the crocodile jaws. But the grip was like a vice.

'Don't you ever talk that way about my friends, you little witch!' Fiona seethed as she tightened her grip on the squirming Troodon in her jaws. Oscura could not get a good bite on her, and with the way Fiona was holding her, she had a tough time getting a good angle to slash her. 'You mess with one of us, you mess with us all!'

Michelle managed to dodge Caruso's next attack, and when she glanced up she noticed her partner was in trouble. 'Oscura!' She ran over to Fiona, which Caruso charging right behind her. She calculated that Caruso would not have enough time to stop himself if he got too close to Fiona. And she couldn't risk attacking Fiona while she had her partner in her jaws. While her plan was still just as risky, she thought it was less risky than biting Fiona herself.

She slowed down a little so Caruso could catch up to her. As she felt Caruso's Stegosaurus jaws snap at her, she sped up a little. She could feel the dinosaur's hot breath on her back as she made her way to Fiona. She quickly dashed underneath Fiona. Just as anticipated, Caruso couldn't stop in time, and slammed into Fiona. The two dinosaurs roared as they slammed into the ground, Caruso on top of Fiona. The Spinosaurus's jaws opened up wide, and Oscura managed to get herself free.

'Why you... I'll make you pay for that!' Oscura snarled as she slammed her jaws shut around Fiona's long snout. Her teeth worked into the golden scales, saliva, filled with bacteria, seeped into the small cuts. Fiona pulled her head free and roared, but she knew it was too late. It wouldn't take long for the effects of the bacteria to settle in. To defend herself, she used her head as a weapon, slamming it into Oscura and knocking the red Troodon onto her side.

As the battle was going on, none of the dinosaurs had noticed Victor was slowly creeping forward, careful to remain hidden in the shadows. He could easily go inside the lighthouse to get Moynihan, but today he was only after one prize, and that was Caruso. He gripped the device tightly in his hand as he came closer. Behind him, his truck had moved a bit closer to the side of the building, closer to where the battle was now taking place. His men were on stand-by, ready to launch the net to grab Caruso when Victor gave the command.

He quickly spotted Caruso getting off of the yellow Spinosaurus. He didn't look injured at all, just a bit dirty and shaky from the collision. Victor's mouth curled up into a smile. He lifted up the device and pointed it straight at Caruso. He had to make sure he had a clear shot. The transmitter was designed the work only a couple times before burning out completely. The electricity would not cause any serious damage to him, but would cause some pain and loss of muscle control. As he got a little closer, and as the battle continued, he eventually got a clear shot of Caruso. Not wanting to miss this opportunity, he quickly pressed the button, transmitting a signal to the item on Caruso's hand.

Caruso felt something tingly on his foot. He immediately stopped, and lifted up his leg. He tried to see the underneath of his foot, but Stegosaurus wrists cannot turn the way human hands could. He could not see the underneath to see what was making that feeling. 'What's going on?' Then the tingling got worse, and more painful. Sparks shot out from underneath his foot. Then large electrical currents began to run through his body, electrical energy dancing over his Stegosaurus form, visible to even human eyes. Caruso roared in pain as his body started to spasm and he fell to the ground, immobilized.

Victor quickly pulled out something from his pocket and shouted into it. "Now! Net him!"

It didn't take long for the others to notice what had just happened. Max's dinosaur eyes widened with fear as he saw the massive red truck heading towards his friend. 'CARUSO! GET UP!' He shouted the warning to Caruso, but the Stegosaurus did not move. 'CARUSO!' Max rushed forward, as well as the others, except Fiona who was now on the ground, feeling sick from the Troodon bite. Max used his tail to wrap around Caruso's body and tried to pull him to safety. But he had to quickly retract his tail when he felt Michelle biting into him.

'Not so fast big boy.' Michelle said, almost smirking, her teeth drawing some blood from Max's green tail. Max lifted up his tail and began slamming it into the ground. Eventually he managed to dislodge Michelle from his tail, and she fell to the ground. 'Oh have it your way.' She said in a disappointed yet mocking tone.

The red truck was getting closer. The top opened up, and a large claw, almost like the kind used for construction purposes, emerged.

CREEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAK!

The large claw loomed above the dinosaurs, and began to lower, preparing to encase Caruso in it. Max roared and bit down on the large claw and attempted to rip it off. Buzz flew over head, diving in front of the claw several times to make it miss its mark. Rodger rammed against the side of the trick where the claw was attached, trying to turn it over. The claw tried to wrench itself free of Max's powerful jaws, but the Tyrannosaurus was relentless. He tightened his grip, and could have sworn he heard the metal of the claw begin to break.

Rodger managed to drive his horns into the truck, and tried to lift the vehicle up, but a sharp pain on his back forced him to let go. He began to buck a little, like an old wild horse. He charged a couple of times, trying to force whatever was on him off of him. 'Yo, who's on my back?!' He asked angrily as he raised up his frilled head to try and see who was on him.

'Heheheheh. You're not to tough now are you?' He heard a masculine voice say. Rodger's eyes widened a little. He had never heard this voice before. It just sounded so unfamiliar to him. But as he listened to the voice more closely, it didn't take long for him to realize that it was Victor who was on his back. Immediately Rodger reared up on his hind legs for as long as he could, hoping to make Victor slide off of him.

'Get off of my back!' Rodger demanded as he slammed back into the ground with a heavy thud. He was answered by the feeling of his skin being torn and ripped. Veloci dug his sharp teeth deep into Rodger's skin, his sickle claws stuck deep inside his sides. Blood oozed out, running down the gray dinosaur's side. Rodger bellowed in agony.

'Oh no..Rodger!' Buzz dove down and brought his talons forward. He aimed straight for Victor Veloci, who was clinging to his friend's back. He shrieked loudly as his claws hit their mark. Long sharp talons slashed across Veloci's back, creating small but bleeding wounds along his back. Victor was knocked off of Rodger and landed on the ground. Buzz flew a certain distance away before sharply turning back and swooping back down at Victor. This time his beak was going to be used as a weapon. He aimed his sharp mouth at the Velociraptor below him. He moved his wings closer to him to make the dive go faster.

'What a naughty bird!' Oscura jumped in front of Veloci to protect him from Buzz's assault. 'You need your wings clipped!' She announced as Buzz got close enough for her to jump up and latch onto. She gripped onto him by what would appear to be a dinosaur hug. But there was nothing friendly about this hug. Her sharp claws scraped into his back, her foot talons tearing into his wing, attempting to render him flightless. She quickly snapped her jaws around his right shoulder. She bit hard into his shoulder, hard enough that she could taste his salty blood seep into her mouth.

Buzz howled painfully, and as Oscura let him go, he had no time to react and he ended up crashing against the lighthouse. He fell down, and his head lolled to one side. 'Man... what a rush...' He muttered softly in his head before struggling to get back onto his feet.

Oscura turned to the big T-Rex that was attacking the claw. She narrowed her eyes. If they did not get Caruso out soon they might as well forget the entire mission. She didn't need to worry about Rodger. He was still on the ground in pain from the wounds inflicted by Veloci. While he did not have a poisonous bite, it would take some time to recover from the wounds Rodger just received. He won't die from them though. She had already given her infectious bite to Fiona, who was already on the ground, and Buzz. And there was only one dinosaur still standing that could stop them, and that was the Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Max was too preoccupied with the claw to realize that Oscura was coming up from behind, or that he was the only one left still standing. He grunted and growled as he tugged the claw harder and harder, threatening to rip it straight off. He took a step backwards, and managed to pull the claw and the truck about a foot from their original position. He was about to make a powerful twist to rip off the claw when he suddenly felt a pain on his calf. He immediately released the claw, lifting his massive head in the air and roaring. The claw re-stabilized itself and went back to grabbing Caruso.

Oscura clung tightly onto Max's muscular leg and slashed as deep as she could with her talons, and delivered a bite on an open wound she had made. Max's eyes widened as she recalled Moynihan's warning of the Troodon bite. He quickly stomped his foot down, creating an aftershock strong enough to knock Oscura off of him. But instead of going after her, his attention quickly shifted when he heard a cry for help from Caruso. 'Help me...' Caruso was in trouble. He could feel it. He knew he must help him and fast.

Max turned around to see the claw had already enclosed around Caruso's immobile body. The Stegosaur's eyes stared at him, wide-eyed, almost helpless. He had struggled to move but could only manage weak movements from the limbs. His long tail hand limply on the side of the claw, dangling almost uselessly. 'Caruso!' The green Tyrannosaurus Rex thundered toward Caruso and lunged his jaws forward to try and grab onto the claw again. This time, Veloci's men became wise, and lifted the claw higher than Max could jump. 'No! Caruso!'

Upon hearing Max's pleas, Rodger, Fiona, and Buzz slowly climbed to their feet. They were weakened, two were infected, and they were feeling exhausted. But when they heard that Caruso was still in danger, they summoned up whatever energy they had left and staggered over to Max to lend a helping hand. Buzz, although disoriented from the bite, managed to grab Caruso's tail and began to fly backwards, beating his large wings to create a gust of wind against the claw. Fiona raised her muzzle up as high as she could, allowing Buzz to wrap his tail around her snout. Fiona then started to pull backwards, assisting Buzz in pulling Caruso away from the claw.

Fiona then wrapped her own tail around Rodger's own snout. The powerful Styracosaurus summoned up what energy he had to spare and started to pull Fiona back. Finally Max stepped up, raising his tail and wrapping it as tightly as he could around Rodger's tail. Rodger responded by tightening the grip, allowing Max to pull forward, as he was facing the opposite direction as the others. It was quite a sight. Four dinosaurs working together to free a fifth dinosaur, hanging onto eachother and pulling with all their might.

Victor's men tried to pull backwards to wrench Caruso away from the others. But their truck kept getting pulled forward. The tires screeched as they tried to drive in reverse. Smoke and dirt and dust got kicked up in the air, creating a thin cloud that slightly obscured the view. Further and further the truck was pulled. A cracking sound indicated that the claw was being strained behind its maximum strength. All it would take is one final massive pull from the four dinosaurs and the claw could be ripped off completely and Veloci's truck sent flying in the air.

Victor was not about to let this one get away. He jumped onto his truck and began to walk effortlessly along the thin path that connected to the metallic claw. He hunched himself low and raised his tail in the air to keep himself balanced. He crept closer to where Caruso was now hooked up. He stepped onto the claw, his talons separated from Caruso's skin by just the claw itself. He could see that the Pteranodon's talons were gripped tightly on Caruso's tail. Hissing softly, Victor went over the edge of the claw, and transformed his Velociraptor hands into a fusion, human hands to help him grip, and still had the sharp talons to dig into the metal. This reduced his chances of falling.

Buzz's feet were within close range. He stretched his leg as far as it could go, the sickle claw extending just a bit beyond the legs. Victor suspected that, even though he knows he's there, Buzz will probably not let go, being more concerned over Caruso than his own safety. This made humans weak, Victor believed. They ignore their own safety for the sake of another. This is the mistake Buzz was making and he was about to pay the price for it. 'I will not let go!' He heard Buzz say, confirming his suspicions.

'You are not about to ruin my plans, Pteranodon!' Victor snarled as he flexed his foot. 'Your friend belongs to me now!' And with that final statement, before Buzz could make a remark, Victor kicked his foot toward Buzz's green-skinned legs. The sickle claw cut deep into both of the Pteranodon's legs, blood spewing out, the claw scraping against something solid, the bone. Buzz reared his head back and screamed as he accidentally released Caruso. With the pulling force gone, the four dinosaurs tumbled across the ground, landing on one another. Victor's truck spun a ways backwards, almost going over the edge of the lighthouse. But the tires activated just in time and it screeched to a halt.

Max quickly stood back up, and he could see Caruso being lowered into Veloci's truck. His glowing eyes widened in horror. 'NO!' The others had just exhausted the last bit of their strength, and lay on the ground. They were still conscious, but now too weak to stand up. The bite is now starting to effect Max as he felt himself becoming even weaker. He tried to shake it off and ran towards the truck, prepared to rip it open if he had to. 'I won't let you take him!' He announced as he opened up his jaws, his tongue hanging out as he exposed his massive teeth. 'Never!'

He managed to grip onto the claw again and tried to pull backwards, but he didn't hang in for too long. Michelle had leapt onto the claw. Her smaller size allowed her to make more massive leaps, comparative to size anyway, than the larger dinosaurs. She did not make any hesitations in her movements. She leapt from the claw onto Max's large head. The T-Rex had very short arms, so she had the upperhand now. She slashed at the Dino Squad teen's eyes, and caused Max to let go of the claw and stumble backwards. A few small bleeding claws were now across his eyes. They weren't serious, though, and he could still see regardless of the blood seeping through. He tried to throw Michelle in the air and snap at her, but the black Guanlong quickly jumped off and landed on the ground.

Michelle slipped and fell down, but swiftly recovered and made a dash towards the red truck. 'Oscura! Let's go!' She shouted to her Troodon partner as they made their way to the truck. The red Troodon followed closely behind her. The door to the vehicle opened up, and the two teens jumped inside. Following close behind was Victor. The Velociraptor jumped inside, then peered out of the door. He shifted back into his human self, and just smirked as the T-Rex tried to run for them.

"Don't worry! You'll soon be joining your friend here!" Victor called out as the door closed, and he quickly activated the camouflage. The truck quickly swerved around the back of the lighthouse to the front, and started to head back to the road to transport Caruso to the laboratory.

'NO! NO!' Max, terrified, his heart racing, began to give chase, trying to follow the sound of the truck. He didn't care who saw him. He didn't care if he was breaking the rules by going out in public like that. All he cared about was freeing Caruso. He believed he was starting to catch up to the truck, the smell of metal strong in his nasal cavity, but then the bacteria from the Troodon bite started to kick in. He realized that he had sped up the process by running and exerting so much energy. His heart had pumped faster and spread the poison through his body much more quickly now. 'No..no not now...' He muttered as he started to slow down, a fever starting to kick in.

His vision began to blur, and he started to lose focus on what he was doing. He opened his jaws in a heavy pant, and he slowed to a stop. He felt himself fall down as the fever got rapidly worse. His chin slammed into the Earth, and a dust cloud was kicked up. 'Caruso...' The last thing his weary eyes saw was a bluish glow from Veloci's truck speeding off along the road, and disappearing into the distance...

Caruso struggled to his feet. He was still in his Stegosaurus form, and he'd been placed inside a huge cage, held together by strong, durable bars. He staggered a little as he put his full weight on his thick sturdy limbs. He managed to raise his head up to look around. He was in the back of the truck, though it wasn't dark, to his surprise. He looked around, and he could see a door, obviously leading to where Veloci generally resides during the trips. Caruso looked up and saw why the room wasn't dark; there was a light in the middle of the ceiling. It blinked a few times once in a while, but otherwise kept on shining.

'I wonder if I can break this open...' Caruso thought, trying to raise his tail in the air. But his tail quickly fell back down, and he suddenly lost the strength in his legs. His body fell back to the ground, and he shook a little. The electric shock must have drained him of his power more than he thought. He managed to raise his head up a little when he heard the door open up.

"Enjoying your new accommodations, Stegosaurus?" Victor asked slyly as he entered the room. He made his way towards the cage, his eyes locked onto Caruso's. The raptor in disguise was smiling triumphantly. He had gotten what he came to the lighthouse for. He got his prize: Caruso. As he came closer, he noticed the glare in the Stegosaur's eyes. "What? You don't like it?" He asked, pretending to sound concerned. He chuckled. "Well too bad, because you're going to be here for a long time..."

Caruso bared his teeth. But that didn't frighten Victor too much, since Stegosauruses were vegetarian and did not use their teeth for tearing flesh. As Victor laughed at his failed attempt to intimidate, Caruso just scoffed and turned his head away. His thoughts went back to his friends, the Dino Squad. Without equipment, would they be able to find him in time? On top of that, would they even find him at all? He knew Victor was going to take him back to his laboratory, but he nor the others knew where that was. They knew where his public building was, but not his secret hideout where he conducts his experiments. Maybe Moynihan does, that idea just came to Caruso's mind. If she could monitor Victor, she would know where Victor was. Caruso smiled at this. Perhaps there was some hope yet.

"I highly doubt your friends will find you." Caruso swung his head towards Victor, his glowing yellow eyes narrowed. Victor stood in front of the cage now, only inches away from the steel bars. All he would need was wait for the right moment, and he could grab Victor with his jaws. "Their monitoring equipment is gone, and they don't know where I'm taking you." Victor took a step closer, and Caruso took this opportunity to lung forward and snap his jaws at Victor's arm. But it seems Victor was expecting this. He quickly jumped backwards, and all Caruso managed to snatch was air.

Victor, the pseudo-man, couldn't help but laugh. "Such a bold attempt, Stegosaurus. But you should really relax.. You're going to need all the strength you have for what I have in store for you..." He trailed off, almost as though he was pondering what he was going to say next. When he did finally finish his sentence, Caruso could have sworn he felt his heart stop. "...Irwin Caruso."

'How...how did you...' Caruso said with his thoughts, backing up a bit in the cage. It wasn't out of genuine fear. It was out of the shock of Victor knowing his name, his first AND last night at that. Then it hit him. Of course, he should know how Victor found out. He recalled how Victor slashed him just a couple days ago, and had called him by his full name back then.

"Why don't you change back?" Veloci asked him, completely ignoring Caruso's unfinished question. "Are you claustrophobic? If you are I suggest you change back. There would be more room for you to move around." He said in a taunting voice.

Caruso responded with a deep growl. 'Shut up...'

Victor's eyes mutated, eyelids moving sideways instead of up and down. A strange glow surrounded them, and he reached into his pocket. He held up the device he used to operate the tracker still stuck to Caruso's foot. "You best behave, human. Or I'll make you behave."

'Yeah right...' Caruso proclaimed, rolling his eyes. 'Why would I take orders from you?'

Victor chuckled. "Trust me.." The Velociraptor-human responded, a sly smile on his face. "I know how to break humans..."

Although Caruso pretended not to be fazed by Victor's words, deep down he did feel some concern. He had no idea what Victor was going to do with him exactly, but Moynihan gave him a pretty good idea. She had warned the Dino Squad that if Victor found out just what they were, and caught them, they would be subjected to several of Vic's experiments. Caruso lowered his head and looked away, and tried to avoid looking at Victor as he thought back on his friends. He felt a quick and brief sharp pain as he thought of how they were not able to free him.

He secretly wished his friends would find him soon, though. He believed in them, and he trusted them. They've overcome Veloci before. He felt confident that they would find him in time. But one thought tugged at the back of his mind, a thought he didn't like thinking about. What if they don't? What if they never find him? No, no, he had to wipe those thoughts out of his head. Of course they'll find him. The good guys always win! Didn't they?

Caruso's attention turned back to the door when he heard it open up again. Victor turned to see who was coming inside. Instead of a human, a small red and orange dinosaur stepped inside. Caruso roared at the newcomer, recognizing her on the spot. It was Oscura, still in dino mode. She slinked through the door and she trotted slowly but unhesitatingly towards Victor Veloci. The large round eyes glowed as they glanced at the prisoner in the cage, then back at Veloci.

'What shall Michelle and I do now?' Oscura asked him, her head bowed a little to show respect.

"Nothing, for now." Victor responded. "We've got what we came here for." He turned his head to stare back at the purplish blue Stegosaurus standing inside the cage. He shook his head as he noted mentally that the child refused to change back, despite the small cage size. But he did not go through this mission unprepared. He had predicted that Caruso would resist his commands, so he formulated a plan that would make Caruso obey him. And it wasn't going to be much fun for the boy. "However...in a little while I would like you or Michelle to come in here and remove the boy's tracker."

'Tracker..?' Caruso thought in his mind, almost forgetting that Oscura and Victor could hear his thoughts now too. He gazed down at his paw, the one where the pain originated from before he was immobilized by the electrical shock.

"Oh you don't know?" Victor asked with a sneer. "You've had a tracker on your foot, or hand, whatever. The point is, that tracker lead me right up to you, boy, and that tracker is what enabled your capture." He seemed to sense Caruso's confusion. "Confused? Don't know how it got on you? Oh I'm sorry." He said in an unapologetic tone. "Michelle put it on you when she shook your hand."

The dinosaur's eyes widened and he roared again, this time angry at himself for being so gullible. He had let himself fall right into their trap. He fell for Michelle's dirty little trick. He should never have stopped to speak to Michelle. He should have just kept on riding along home. Then, a feeling of guilt suddenly enveloped him somewhat, as he realized maybe he was the reason Veloci found the lighthouse. If he followed the signal, he could have found the lighthouse easily, and with no monitoring equipment to register his approach, Veloci could get to the lighthouse undetected and nab him.

'I can't believe it.. How could I have been stupid?!' Caruso cursed to himself, and only felt angrier when Victor and Oscura laughed at him.

"Oh don't blame yourself for being stupid, Caruso. Blame your species." Victor remarked.

'How dare you...' Caruso muttered softly. He backed up against the cage, and charged forward, and slammed his full body weight against the cage. Victor and Oscura were shocked to see that in just one blow, Caruso managed to create a bad dent in the cage. They feared that if he were to slam into it again, he could break the cage open and escape. They would need to find someway to control him to prevent him from ramming the cages. He may not have seemed like much of a threat trapped inside the cage, but Stegosaurs were powerful creatures. They would be in real danger if he managed to break free.

As Caruso backed up for his next charge, Veloci quickly pressed the button on his remote, sending another painful shock wave of electrical energy coursing through Caruso's body. The dinosaur reared his head back and roared in pain and then collapsed onto his side, moaning softly. He twitched a little, and finally went limp. He hadn't been knocked out; he just couldn't move again. It was like being hit by a tazer gun.

Seeing Caruso laying there, looking so helpless, gave Victor an idea. He would go forward with his original plan of controlling Caruso but make some modifications. Electricity seemed to be the ideal component he could use to help break Caruso's spirit and force him into submission. He had told himself to only use that as a last resort, though. He didn't want to damage the Stegosaurus body Caruso possessed. If he could convince Caruso to obey him early on, he could avoid using the device he had planned.

But if the boy continued to resist, then he would have no choice but to use it on him. He would need to be careful however because the last thing he wanted to do was inflict major, irreversible damage to the Stegosaurus. But what to do with the boy when Victor was done with him? Victor had thought about this. He really didn't want to simply kill Caruso off. He had perfect dino DNA after all. He would still make a valuable addition to the new dawn of the dinosaurs. But surely, the boy would never embrace his dinosaur heritage, even after experiencing the glory of being a dinosaur. He was still a human. The pathetic human mind could never embrace the dinosaur's superior mind.

Of course there were exceptions. Both Oscura and Michelle, so he believed, thought more like dinosaurs than humans. Victor was working out a way to prevent anyone from turning back into humans once his plan becomes complete. He did not want to risk allowing any humans to exist in his new dinosaur reign. He did not want to pollute the new paradise with lowly creatures such as humans. Once he perfect his DNA he must ensure that not only plants and animals are infected, but all the humans as well. He was hoping to do this with his cloud plan from before, but a more revised version.

He turned his attention back to Oscura, and nodded his head, gesturing towards Caruso. "Remove the tracker. I don't need it anymore."

'But sir, what if he tries to...' Oscura said urgently, gazing over at Caruso with a watchful eye. 'He could..'

"He won't get out. I can assure you that." Victor said as he made his way towards the door. "Even if he manages to get out of the cage, he won't be able to leave the room."

'But...' Oscura objected, but quickly shut her yap when Victor's eyes shifted to black with a glowing yellow iris. She cringed back and bowed her head again. 'Y-Yes sir. I'll get right on it.' As Victor smiled and left the room, Oscura made her way towards the cage. She reached inside the cage cautiously, in case Caruso got his movement back. She lifted up one of his paws and inspected it. 'Now where did she put that tracker..?' She placed the foot back down when she found nothing. She lifted up the second front paw, rubbing her claws gently along the underneath of it, until she managed to locate it. Gripping it as tightly as she could with her talons, she pulled it out and tossed it aside.

While it did not hurt putting it on originally, for some reason, Caruso felt pain as Oscura pulled the tracker out of his paw. If he weren't still immobilized by the shock, he would be screaming right now. He did manage to lift up his head, though, to get a better look at Oscura. His eyes narrowed, filled with hatred for the Troodon. 'J-Just wait...until I... get out...out of..this cage...' He managed to say through the pain he was already in. He knew he could take her on single-handedly. He didn't need help to defeat a weak Troodon like her. All he needed to do was strike her with his tail with full force. It shouldn't be that difficult. Then again, despite her small size, he had noticed that none of his team could seriously injure Oscura. She was just too fast.

'Oh you aren't getting out of the cage, little boy.' Oscura sneered. Even though Caruso was still weak, she still kept her distance from the cage. 'And if you know what's good for you, you'll listen to Dr. Vic's orders. Otherwise..you don't wanna know what's gonna happen to ya.'

Just then the door opened up again, this time Michelle, in her human form, stepped inside. Upon seeing her, Caruso's eyes glowed more intensely and he tried to struggle to his feet, only to fail. Michelle shook her head at Caruso's meek attempt. "Looks like you remember me." She told the Stegosaurus. Unlike Victor and Oscura, she held no sneering smile, but a face of stone. She was not in the mood for laughter right now. They still have to reach their destination before they can safely say the mission was a success. Something could easily go wrong while transporting Irwin to the doctor's lab.

'What is it that you want?' Oscura asked, turning her head slightly to the side and baring her teeth.

"I'm just here to check up on our little...guest." Michelle said, the faintest of a smirk on her face.

'Uhhh...okay...' Oscura said, tilting her head. 'But I don't think it really matters how he's doing.'

"I never asked you for your opinion, now did I?" Michelle barked at the Troodon. She ignored the Troodon's angry hiss and walked towards Caruso's cage. Without fear, she placed her hands around two of the bars Caruso had dented, and peered inside. She could see Caruso glaring at her like any caged animal would. "Why are you still in dino mode? You'd probably feel more comfortable if you change back."

'Oh shut up will you?' Caruso snapped. 'You tricked me!'

"And is that a surprise?" Michelle said, her hands on her hips, speaking in a 'I told you so' kind of voice. "I sensed that you knew of my...our little trap. Why does it shock you so to discover I planted the tracker on you?" This was merely a guess. She did not know if Victor told him or not. But either way, Caruso ought to know now. "So I ask you again, why don't you just change back?"

Caruso snarled as a response, but did not answer her question. He merely turned his head away like a pouting child would. Michelle groaned and shook her head. Caruso was a bit more stubborn than she thought, then again she had helped capture him. He probably just didn't want to listen to his captors. That was logical, she believed.

Oscura chuckled, and picked at her teeth with her talons. 'Maybe he doesn't want to talk because, maybe he's too stupid to answer.'

She was quickly startled by a roar coming from the cage. Caruso was back on his feet now, although shaky. He looked as though he was going to charge again, as he was backing up once more. Oscura's eyes widened in shock, realizing what he was about to do. Michelle looked just as surprised. 'I am not stupid!' He declared as he kicked at the floor of the cage, trying to build up momentum.

"Oh now you've done it." Michelle said bitterly to Oscura. "He's gonna get out of the cage!" She looked at Caruso with her eyes widened up more. She did not think the dent could withstand a blow like the one a Stegosaurus could deliver, especially one driven by anger.

Oscura shifted back into her human self, running her fingers through her dark-colored hair. She let her expression of shock slowly disappear. "Oh you need not worry. He cannot break out of the cage. Not in his condition anyway."

As if on cue, before Caruso could muster up the energy he needed for the charge, he felt weak again, and he collapsed onto his side once more. The electrical shock had taken away more of his strength this time. He knew it would take some time to fully recover from it. Maybe that's why Victor was so confident he would not get out with the tracker removed. Victor was an intelligent being, Caruso hated to admit it, but it was true. Victor must have calculated that two massive electrical shocks would weaken him up enough that he wouldn't fully recover until sometime after they reached their destination.

'I hate you...' Caruso managed to say at Oscura before shutting his eyes.

Oscura shook her head in disappointment. "What a waist of energy. And here I thought he would be tougher than this. But I guess I was getting my hopes up."

"Why would you want him to be tougher?" Michelle asked as the two walked to the door.

"For the challenge." Oscura smirked. "It's more fun to break someone if they fight back."

"Well I am sure Caruso here is not going down without a fight. But even so, you aren't going to have your way with him." She winced as she realized the innuendo she had accidentally attached to that last sentence. "Err.. you know what I mean. Anyway, Victor just told me he doesn't want you or me breaking Caruso. He's already had a plan worked out, and he claims to have made many humans submit to him before. That's how he was able to create this organization."

"Oh poo..what a disappointment." Oscura muttered. "But wait, how is he going to break someone who can defend himself?"

Michelle smirked as she walked out the door, Oscura in tow. "Oh don't you worry. He has..ways..." She then shut the door, leaving Caruso all alone in the cage.

When he sensed that no one was around, Caruso's eyes opened up a crack, looked around briefly, then opened up all the way. He hadn't been knocked out earlier. He was just pretending to. He was hoping that if he pretended to be knocked out, they would leave him alone quicker. The plan had worked. But he knew it wouldn't be too long before someone came in the back to check on him, probably to make sure he was recovering and was still inside the cage.

He finally decided to take Victor and Michelle's advice, as much as he hated to, and shifted back into a human. He felt a wave of relief rush through him as he finally had more elbow room. He was beginning to feel a little claustrophobic while in Stegosaurus form. He took another look around the room. For the first time he could see a window, but it was closed by bars from the outside. He wouldn't be able to slip through.

"Well this is just great.. I'm stuck on Veloci's truck, heading to who-knows-where, and I have no way of telling the guys where I am!" He snapped to no one. As the feelings of despair, worry that he might never see his friends again, started to seep through slightly, he slowly sank to down onto the floor, and stared at the ground. He gave a soft sigh, and he looked up at the window, where he could see the sky. "Please, guys..hurry." He said before leaning against the cage bars, and closing his eyes.

Back at the lighthouse, Max had the unfortunate and grim task of informing Moynihan that Caruso had been captured. Moynihan was very horrified, and scared, and so was everyone else. The situation seemed to grow more desperate now. Caruso did not have his cellphone with him, so there was no way for him to call them up and tell them where he was. And with no way to track him, they could not find him. Rodger had suggested tracking by smell, but Moynihan claimed it would not work, stating that Veloci's truck's emissions disappeared quickly, along with the scent.

Buzz suggested calling the police and telling them about what happened, but this idea was turned down as well. Victor was a powerful man and could easily discourage police from tagging along with the use of money. It was really difficult to get any authorities to after a man as rich and powerful as Dr. Victor Veloci. And it would be difficult to convince some people that he had committed such a crime. There were people who trusted Victor so much it nearly crossed the border line of naivety.

Fiona had made another suggestion. Perhaps Buzz could fly over and try to find Victor's truck. That sounded like a wonderful idea, but Ms. Moynihan had to reject it as well, stating that Victor would detect Buzz before he found the truck. Victor could either slip away, or capture Buzz as well. Buzz suggested that he could just fly up really high so Victor wouldn't see him, but his idea was shot down when Joanne revealed that Victor's tracking range was immense, being able to detect dinosaurs from almost anywhere in the world. If he turned dino now, anywhere, Victor would know about it.

The kids were inside the lighthouse, sitting on the furniture. Moynihan had managed to open up the door and had seen the children outside, all knocked out in dino mode. Rump had ignored his illness when he saw the children in what appeared to be danger, and ran outside, barking like mad. He had managed to wake up the Dino Squad, who quickly shifted back into humans. While weak and injured, Rump managed to keep them going by constantly barking at them, and nudging them with his nose. A few times he'd even nip them. The little dog was smarter than they had thought. They owed him for helping them get inside the lighthouse.

Moynihan ignored her pain again as she had made her way back to the couch, knowing that the children were safe inside the lighthouse. Rodger and Max were able to get medicine for themselves and Buzz and Fiona. Working as a team, they managed to treat each other's wounds and bandage each other up. The ones bitten by the Troodon were given the medicine to counterattack its effects. Now the children were sitting in the living room, wondering, desperately, what they should do now.

"Arrgh! I can't believe it!" Max said bitterly, clenching his hand tightly with his fingers. "How could I have let him get away with Caruso?! How?!" He dug his fingernail so deep in the skin he could have sworn it broke through.

"Now now, Maxwell..." Moynihan said gently. "It was not your fault."

"Yeah dude.." Buzz said a little quietly. He was feeling guilty as well. "We all failed... and just when Caruso needed us the most."

Max felt a little better, knowing that the others felt they were responsible as well. It made him feel relieved that he did not have to share the guilt all alone. He released the pressure he was applying with his fingers to his head, bringing his hands back down to his sides. He sighed sadly, thinking about what Moynihan had told them earlier. "So you're saying there's..no way to track down Caruso?"

"I..I am sorry. No.." Joanne bowed her head, feeling really bad about this whole situation. She wished she could be of more help.

"So..what? That's it? You're just going to give up?" Rodger asked, feeling a little angry. "This is not like you, Ms. M."

"I agree with Rodger." Fiona chimed in. "You aren't a person I would imagine giving up."

"I never said anything about giving up." Joanne told the children. She felt a little surprised that they would think she gave up that easily. There was still a way to find Caruso, but it would take sometime and patience. She could only hope they would get it ready in time, before it was too late for Caruso.

Fiona looked at the team's old-aged mentor. What was she talking about? She had rejected all their ideas, and pretty much stated how hopeless it was to find Caruso. How was that not giving up? "What do you mean? I thought you..."

"Oh dear child, you should know me better than that." Joanne chuckled lightly. "You are right; I'm not the kind of person who'd give up. There's still a chance at finding Caruso."

Max jumped out of his seat at this statement. Eager to make up for his mistake of letting Caruso getting captured, which he still blames himself for, he quickly said, "What? What is it? Tell me, and I'll do it!" His enthusiasm to get Caruso back was shared by the others, who awaited eagerly for Moynihan to lay out her plan on finding him.

Ms. Moynihan sighed and shook her head. "I regret to inform you that this plan will take a while. I do not know how long, and I do not know if we'll find Caruso in time. But it's the only plan that I am sure has any chance at success." She felt guilty as the children's hopes felt like they were dying down. Here they thought they had a way to get Caruso back quickly, only to be disappointed by the fact that this new plan will take time, perhaps days. She turned to the mechanics of the team, Rodger and Fiona. "Rodger. Fiona. I need you two to work on creating a new tracking computer. I don't have much money, but I am willing to give you some money to help pay for some computer parts."

"You want us..to build a computer?" Fiona asked, sounding rather surprised. But at the same time, she was kind of expecting this. Moynihan did need new tracking equipment after all. But still, could a couple of high school students like her and Rodger be able to pull off a task such as this?

"Gee.. I'm not sure if we can do that, Ms. Moynihan." Rodger said, rubbing the back of his head with his large hand. "We've never done it before."

Moynihan chuckled. "Don't be so modest you two." The old woman told them, smiling calmly, with a sense of confidence. "I have great faith in the two of you. You have both shown remarkable intelligence and abilities during your time as the Dino Squad. Fiona, you upgraded the motorcycles many times, adding new abilities to them that even I would not have thought of before. And Rodger, you've built so many inventions in the past that I lost count. I am confident that the two of you can work together and create a computer to help us find Caruso." She said. She did not hesitate in anything she said, and she spoke with such a strong, unwavering voice, that Fiona and Rodger could feel a little pressured. She truly believed in them.

"I...we..." Rodger said, not sure the words to say.

"We won't let you down." Fiona said, smiling as best as she could in this situation.

Ms. Moynihan nodded, smiling with confidence. "I am sure that you won't."

Buzz stared at the black TV screen, giving a soft yet audible sigh. He stared at the remote, knowing it doesn't matter where it sits now. The cable to the TV was still out, but the phones still worked. Moynihan decided not to fix the cable for now. They had a more urgent situation at hand now. The cable could wait. While Buzz understood why, he felt a little aggravated that he could not watch his favorite show, which was on right now.

Television would help him relax. He secretly wished that the hand held tracker, which had been lost somewhere in the lighthouse a couple days ago and never found, had a portable TV on it. That would make him feel better. He was starting to feel a bit uneasy with it being so quiet in the lighthouse. He groaned again, muttering, "Man, I wish the television was working. My favorite show is on." His wish was not shared by the others though as they gave him a soft glare.

"How can you think of television at a time like this?" Max said, restraining his anger as much as he could.

"We should be thinking of Caruso right now, not petty little interests!" Fiona scolded him as she folded her arms.

"I'm sorry." Buzz said, not looking at any of them. "It just...helps relax me, helps calm me down in bad situations. And with what happened..." His voice trailed off.

"We're all worried, Buzz." Max said, feeling his friend's pain. "But watching television won't help. We should be focused on getting our friend back." As Buzz gave a single nod, a more uncomfortable thought came over Max. There was something they had forgotten to consider. What were they going to tell Caruso's parents? Unless they found Caruso before the end of the day, they would surely be suspicious. Rodger had permission to stay at the lighthouse because he called. They could say that Caruso decided to stay as well, but then his parents may want confirmation from their son, either verbally or face to face.

Poor Mr. And Mrs. Caruso, they would be devastated to find out their only son was kidnapped by a deranged raptor. They were among the few 'outsiders' who knew of their secret. They were fully aware of the Dino Squad's existence, and their son's ability to change into a Stegosaurus. They were reluctant to allow their son continue fighting the mutants, but seeing how he was not a kid anymore, and that he had friends by his side, they allowed him to stay with the Dino Squad.

But what were they going to think now, knowing that Caruso had been captured and the Dino Squad was there, and failed to save him? It was going to be painful to tell them, but they had to. They were Caruso's parents; they had the right to know where their son was. Maybe they could have any ideas on how to track him down quicker. Max gazed at Moynihan, and she could tell, by the look in his eyes, that he had a troubling thought in mind, a question he wanted to ask but felt almost reluctant to do so.

"Max, what is it?" Moynihan asked, sitting up quickly.

Max gave a sigh, and looked at the floor. He felt all the more guilty thinking about what happened and the fact that someone would have to tell the truth to the missing boy's parents. "It's..It's just that..." He never felt this lost since he first acquired his T-Rex form. "Who is going to tell Caruso's parents?"

This question eerily silenced everyone in the room. They slowly looked at each other, expecting the other to say something, but would only keep quiet. The others had a hard time answering Max's question. They knew that they had to tell them sooner or later, but who would be stuck with the unfortunate task of breaking the news to them? Surely, none of them were willing to have such a grim task. It would make them feel even worse about not being able to save Caruso from Veloci. But they would feel even worse if they kept his kidnapping a secret until one of Caruso's parents called them up and asked them where their son was.

Ms. Moynihan finally broke the silence. She reached out towards Fiona, who was the nearest to her. "I will tell them. Can I borrow your cellphone, Fiona Flagstaff?" She asked, calling Fiona by her first and last name. Fiona reached into her pocket and handed the phone to her teacher, feeling a bit unsure about this, but knowing it was necessary, no matter how painful it was going to be. Ms. Moynihan dialed up Caruso's house, and as she heard the phone ringing, she felt her heart racing.

Jack Caruso, Irwin's father, was sitting in the kitchen, at the table, reading the newspaper. He had just finished eating lunch, and decided to read the sports page. He would normally read the page with his son, Irwin, who had shown some interest in sports since he was young. But today, with Irwin being at Moynihan's lighthouse, he had to read the paper alone. But he didn't mind. Irwin was due back any minute now anyway. His wife, Amanda, had prepared Irwin's lunch for when he came home. It was sitting in the refrigerator in a paper bag.

Amanda Caruso, Irwin's mother, was at the sink, washing the dishes. There wasn't that many, so her chore would be done relatively soon. She was feeling concerned about Irwin. She felt he would have been home by now. Her husband assured her that Caruso would be back very soon. She hoped that he was right, and that she was just getting a bit worked up over nothing. But it was not a comforting thought knowing that Victor was a Velociraptor and that Irwin was battling against his mutantsaurs.

"Jack..." She spoke up.

"Hmm...what is it, dear?" Jack lowered the paper down and peered over it.

"Do you suppose Irwin's on his way home now?" Amanda asked, holding a plate close to her chest as she dried it with a towel.

Jack chuckled, and got out of his seat. He went to his wife, and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Oh stop worrying so much, honey. I'm sure he'll come through that door any minute now." She gave him an uncertain look. "Oh come on, he's a capable young man, and he's proven that with the Dino Squad. He can take care of himself."

"I..hope you're right." Amanda said, setting the plate on the rack and turning to face her husband. "I just can't shake this feeling that maybe something has happened."


	4. Gone

Just then they heard their phone ring. "I wonder who that could be..." Jack said as he reached for the phone sitting on the table. He picked it up and pressed the Talk button and spoke into it. "Hello, Jack Caruso speaking." He heard Moynihan's voice on the other line, and he smiled. "Oh, Professor Moynihan, hello!" He said, greeting the voice on the other end. Ms. Moynihan asked Jack if he had recalled her wanting his kid as well as the four other students at the lighthouse for training. He gave a nod. "Oh sure, I remember. How did it go? ...what? You didn't? Why?"

As Jack's voice started to sound a bit urgent, Amanda tried to calm herself down. But she grew more and more curious, wanting to know what they were talking about. It was surely about Irwin. "Jack..what is it?" She asked, leaning in close.

"You were?" Jack asked. Moynihan had explained to him about how Michelle had gotten inside the lighthouse and thrown her down the stairs. Jack winced as he imagined what that must have felt like. "So that's why you couldn't train. I'm sorry to hear that." He said, sympathizing with the professor's pain. Then Moynihan said she brought more news. "Hmm? Oh? What?" As the voice on the other line kept talking, Jack's eyes narrowed at first, then they suddenly flew open as did his mouth. He let in a sharp gasp, placing his hand on his mouth. "What...?" He managed to say.

Amanda was feeling even more concerned now. She grasped her husband's hand, and looked up at him, her eyes filled with fear. "What's going on?"

"Would we like to come over... Sure..." Jack said. Ms. Moynihan wanted them to come over so they can continue to discuss this matter face-to-face in a private location. Jack rubbed his forehead. "We'll be there shortly..." He slowly placed the phone back on its hook, and gave a sigh.

"Dear..what's going on?" Amanda asked, feeling the fear inside her grow.

Jack looked at her. He placed his hands on her shoulders once more, and it was easy to tell he was struggling to find the words to say. He sighed again, bowing his head in despair. "That was Professor Moynihan on the phone. There's been a...terrible incident that occurred at the lighthouse." He told her.

"W-What happened?" Amanda asked.

Jack swallowed hard. "Irwin's been... kidnapped by Victor Veloci." Amanda's eyes flew open wide like saucers and her hands pressed against her mouth as she stifled a scream. "And their equipment was destroyed by some girl named Michelle, so they can't track him..and they have no idea where he is..."

"Oh Jack..." Amanda said as she felt tears welling up in her eyes. She flew her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly. She sobbed into his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and tried to comfort her as best as he could. But he could not hold back his own tears as they were building up in his eyes. Their only son was being forced to travel with a deranged dinosaur to an unknown location, and they would have no idea where he was without tracking equipment. Jack was a bit handy with tools so he decided, as he hugged his wife, that he would help Fiona and Rodger build a new tracking device.

"Don't worry..." Jack assured his frightened wife. "We'll find him...we'll find him."

Ms. Moynihan exhaled slowly as she closed Fiona's cellphone and handed it back to her. She knew it was going to be difficult to tell Caruso's parents what happened, but she didn't think it would be that difficult. She could barely hear the concerned voice of Amanda Caruso on the other side. She could only imagine how she must have felt when her husband would break the news to her. She looked out the window, knowing that in a short period of time, they'd be here. Oh what to do when they get here.. It was going to be difficult to talk about the situation with them. A worrying thought gnawed at the back of her mind. What if they blamed her, or the other kids, for their son's disappearance?

Her thoughts were quickly discontinued when she heard Buzz's concerned voice asking her a question. "Ms. M...are you sure it was a good idea to bring Caruso's parents here?"

"And what is wrong with that?" Joanne asked.

"Nothing..it's just that.." Buzz sighed. "I'm sure they're going to want to know more. What are we going to tell them?"

"The truth, Buzz. The truth." Moynihan responded as she waited nervously and patiently for Irwin's parents to arrive.

Caruso bolted up when he heard the door slamming, and quickly looked to see who it was. Michelle was walking towards his cell, carrying what appeared to be a tray with a small cup of fluid and a sandwich. Caruso glared at her as she got closer. She knelt by his cage, and placed the tray down on the floor, backed up against the bars. She stood up and backed away a couple steps. She and Caruso locked eyes on one another, as though cautious of the other. Michelle quickly broke from the stare and turned back to the door.

Caruso slowly eyed the food and drink suspiciously. They were probably trying to poison him. Or maybe they were trying to get him to trust them, so he could be better manipulated. Well, he was not going to fall for that trick. He roughly pushed the tray a ways from the cage, startling Michelle a bit by this action. He turned his head away and folded up his arms. He acted as though he were a child that was just given time out.

"What on Earth did you do that for?" Michelle asked as she went over to pick up the tray.

"I'm not falling for your tricks again, Michelle." Caruso said bitterly without looking at her.

"What are you talking about?" Michelle asked. "I was sent here to give you food and water because Victor thought you might be hungry or thirsty..."

The mention of Victor's name caused Caruso to seethe through his teeth, "Oh yeah right! Since when would he care about the state of a human?!" The tone of his voice made Michelle cringe a little, but she tried not to show it. "Victor could care less what happens to the human race, let alone a teenager!" Michelle gritted her teeth as Caruso continued to speak about Victor in such a manner. "The insane madman, the same guy who pretends to be a humanitarian, the same guy who has been hunting me and my friends, the same guy who wants to rid the world of humans, and let dinosaurs rule again, that's the same guy who sent food and water to me because he thought I was hungry...or thirsty?! That's a laugh! But then again it should not surprise me Victor would send someone else to do his work for him! Victor always seems to send out someone else to do his dirty work for him!" He scoffed. "How predictable..."

Gritting her teeth tighter, Michelle clenched one of the bars of Caruso's cage and said, "Just be glad you get any food at all..." She said in a low voice. "We can easily cut off your food and water supply and let you slowly starve to death and dehydrate..." She said in a threatening voice. The tone of her voice made Caruso's face soften up, and slowly give way to a little fear, but he continued to stand his ground. "Victor is not above allowing you to die if you refuse to eat anything. And he is also not above killing you himself if he sees a good reason to."

"Oh yeah right... Like Victor would have the guts to..." Caruso started.

"Don't test him..." Michelle interrupted. "For your own good..don't test him.." Caruso didn't respond, instead simply turning his head away once more. Her expression softened slowly as a few seconds passed by of complete silence. "I've been working for Victor for..a good time now and.. I know what he's capable of." She spoke in a soft voice, with a tinge of concern. "You'll live to regret testing his patience."

Irwin rolled his eyes and shook his head. It was clear he did not believe her words. "And why should I trust you? Remember when we shook hands? You planted that tracker on me that let me get caught!" He pointed an accusing finger at her. "And you also attacked Ms. Moynihan! You nearly broke her leg! How could you do something so cruel..? Sending an old woman toppling down the stairs like that?!"

Michelle sighed, knowing that Caruso was going to bring this up sooner or later. She recalled the moment that she grabbed Moynihan by the throat and tossing her down the stairs. She had taken sometime to regret that decision. She was too wiled up to realize exactly what she had done at the time. Her excuse would have been she was just defending herself, but who would believe that? And besides Moynihan was defending herself as well. It was Michelle who had sparked the fight initially.

In the long run, Michelle really had no excuse for what she had done. All she could do was agree with Caruso on the manner. "Y-Yes... that's true. I did throw her down the stairs. But..but I only did that to..." She said, trying to find someway to defend herself in the least.

"Only did that to what...?" Caruso asked, interrupting her rudely. "To leave us a message telling us that you were there? To break Moynihan's leg so she won't be a threat?"

"No.. I did that to..." Michelle sighed. "..to keep her out of my way." She admitted sincerely. "She was in the way of my completing my mission, so I had no choice but to toss her down the staircase."

"What a horrible excuse..." Caruso seethed, baring his teeth. "And attacking Rump..."

"I was just defending myself!" Michelle snapped. "The little monster tried to attack me!"

"So..it's all right for you to defend yourself, but not Moynihan...?" Caruso asked in an incriminating tone.

"I..." But Michelle couldn't think of a remark to defend herself against this statement. The boy was right. He had a valid point. She was only defending herself against Rump's assault just as Moynihan was only defending herself during the raid. And the way she said that she attacked Moynihan just because she was 'in the way' made it seem like she felt the old woman had no right to defend herself. Michelle bowed her head a bit, feeling a little guilty.

There was an awkward silence between the two for the next few minutes. Michelle sat down a few inches from the cage, and crossed her legs in an indian style. Caruso did the same, although he stayed a good distance from Michelle. The two teenagers simply stared at each other quietly, waiting for the other to make a move, or speak up. It had gotten so quiet that all they could hear were the tires grinding against the road. And occasionally they would hear Victor making one of his speeches about dinosaurs ruling again.

Michelle shook her head slowly at this. Victor did have a habit of boasting about how his plan will work and how he was so sure the dinosaurs will come back. But now it seems like he was doing it more often, maybe because he now has Caruso. There seemed to be something special about Caruso that made Victor feel as though he had to have him. Most likely it was just for his perfect Stegosaurus DNA. But if Victor had already gotten a DNA sample, why did he need Caruso again?

But she did not question Victor's orders. There would have to be a logical explanation for wanting Caruso so badly. She would just have to accept Victor's earlier reasoning of getting Caruso; that he was going to be part of the plan of bringing the Earth back to the dinosaurs, or bringing the dinosaurs back to Earth, whichever way it was. She finally broke away from Caruso's stare as it was making her feel a little uncomfortable. But even when looked away, she could still feel Caruso's glare going right through her.

She had realized she stayed in the room too long, and Victor would wonder where she was and what took her so long. She knew she had to get up and leave, but something was keeping her in, something about the boy, Caruso, that made her want to stay. Was it sympathy? Was it guilt? She shook those thoughts out of her mind. She quickly realized that Caruso's words had started to make her doubt her own mission. She glanced back at Caruso and returned his glare with a frown. She decided that the silence must be broken. She spoke up, "Clever boy aren't you? Playing with my emotions like that. Very clever.."

"What are you talking about?" Caruso asked, sounding more confused than angry.

"You were trying to... oh never mind it." Michelle said in a slight tone of bitterness. She needed to clear her head of these confusing thoughts. They were affecting her decision-making as well as making it difficult for her to think clearly. "I'd better get going."

"Yeah...you should." Caruso told her, turning his head away.

Michelle got up off the ground and made her way towards the door. She didn't bother picking up the tray that she had originally brought in. She figured that Caruso would sooner or later give into his hunger. No one can resist the temptation of hunger and thirst for very long. It would only be a matter of time. She would probably come back in a few hours to pick up the tray and perhaps bring more food to him. They wouldn't be at their destination in several hours, anyway. Caruso would indeed submit to the offer, she was positive of that. She did not mention this and for good reason, but the reason Victor wanted her to bring food was not simply because he felt he was hungry. It was part of Victor's plan to make Caruso submit to them.

Victor believed that he could probably use food to help increase his chances of controlling Caruso. Now that he has been captured, he'd control the food and water supply. He could punish Caruso by not feeding him for a few days, which would weaken Caruso's state of mind as well as his human body. The Stegosaurus half of the boy could take this abuse though, so Victor was not worried.

But Michelle did hear Victor say something about thinking about abandoning the idea and use another way to control Caruso. Well he already did have another way, although he did not really give her the full details on it yet. But the information that she did know had mentioned something involving pain, and lots of it. This did not seem entirely like Victor, who had used fear and motivation, not pain, to control his followers. And using food seemed a bit unlike himself, but oh well, who was she to judge?

Michelle slowly grasped the door handle, and turned it. She looked back at Caruso, wearing a smile on her face. "Why don't you eat now? You look hungry..."

Caruso gritted his teeth. "I am not going to eat that garbage!"

Michelle just shrugged her shoulders. She didn't believe him. He would give in sooner or later. "Oh well. Suit yourself..." She disappeared through the doorway and closed the door behind her.

Caruso was now alone in the room again. He sighed softly and pulled his legs up to his chest. He was feeling a little cold all of a sudden, even though it was not winter time yet. He rubbed his arms roughly to create heat friction to hopefully warm himself up again. But it seemed no matter how fast he rubbed or anything else he did, he just kept on shivering. "Why am I so cold...?" He asked himself as he pushed himself against the cage bars. "It's not even that cold in here..."

Then he realized the truth. He wasn't really shivering due to cold. He was shivering due to emotion. His anger, and his fear, were what was making him tremble. Although he hadn't thought about it much, he was still feeling afraid, and wondered just what Victor was truly capable of. Perhaps he should abide by Michelle's warning and do what the guy asked him to do.. No! No, he shouldn't do that! He must not give in! That's exactly what Victor wanted him to do! If he gave in, then Victor would win! Caruso felt he had to continue to stand his ground, to put up a resistance against his captors.

He then felt his stomach growling, and he winced. "Oh great..." He muttered under his breath. He slowly glanced over at the food, which continued to look more and more inviting as time passed. He placed his hand on his stomach and slowly rubbed it as he finally noticed the smell of the sandwich lingering in the air. The sandwich had been heated, and from the smell of it, it had hamburger meat in it. He slowly licked his lips, and tried to resist.

"No, don't even think about it Caruso...! Don't eat that sandwich!" He scolded himself, gripping his head. "That's exactly what they want you to do!"

But the smell of the hamburger sandwich continued to taunt him, continued to mess with his mind. Caruso groaned softly as he realized he would not be able to resist the sandwich for too long. The growls in his stomach were growing louder and longer, and the sight and smell of the sandwich only made it worse. He could feel the inside of his mouth slowly water, and he finally gave in. He quickly reached out of the cage and snapped the sandwich up and bit into it. As he swallowed his first bite, he couldn't help but glance up at the window, and wondered how long he would have to stay here.

He turned back to his sandwich and took another bite. He felt stupid falling into this so quickly. And yet he continued to eat the sandwich, because he would have sooner or later anyway, and he knew that, and he was sure Victor knew that. He started to wonder about his friends as he continued to eat. His thoughts then went to his family. His mother..his father... had the Dino Squad told them what happened? And how were they taking the news? These two questions gnawed at the back of his mind, and he felt a pang of guilt inside of him. He hadn't even said goodbye to his parents today.

He had left in such a hurry today... And he hadn't said much to his parents other than he had to get at Moynihan's lighthouse. He did not say goodbye to them, but then, he didn't know he was going to get captured by Veloci. If he had known, surely he would have told his parents goodbye. As he was thinking about this, he was starting to feel not so hungry anymore. He stared at the sandwich and sighed, and he set it back on the tray. He picked up the cup of water and sipped from it, his mind still wandering, thinking about his parents as well as his friends and teacher.

"Why was I such an idiot and went outside?" Caruso asked himself as he set the cup back down. "I should have just stayed inside." He scolded himself mentally, wanting to slap himself in the face, but stopping himself.

"Yes, you should have." He was startled by the voice coming from the door once again. Now who could it be this time? It couldn't be Michelle. She had just left a few minutes ago, and she had no reason to be coming back. "But even if you were inside that pathetic lighthouse, I would have gotten you out somehow anyway." Caruso narrowed his eyes when he realized that voice was coming from Victor Veloci. He had come back into the room. Caruso stood straight up and got into a fighting stance even though he had no hope of landing a move while behind the bars. Victor chuckled softly. "My, my. Aren't we a little defensive today?"

"What do you want, Victor?" Caruso demanded. "What did you come back here for?"

"Just to talk." Victor answered the boy as he walked up to the cage without hesitation. Caruso backed up a little ways. "Are you afraid of me, child?" He sounded almost hopeful. Caruso was not surprised. The stupid Velociraptor would want him to say yes. Well, he was not going to give in like that.

"No!" Caruso shouted. "I'm not afraid of you!"

Victor turned his head to the side, glancing at Caruso in a sideways kind of manner. He chuckled, and sneered, "Well you should be..." His voice was sarcastic, and didn't sound particularly threatening.

The blue-haired teen folded up his arms, and scoffed. "Why should I be afraid of a coward?"

Victor's eyes suddenly glowed, and he turned his head back towards the boy. His teeth were now mutated into the raptor fangs traditional to his species. Caruso backed up, feeling a bit frightened. But he still held his ground. He returned Victor's glare. "You don't know who you are messing with, kid." He said, restraining himself from slashing the boy. "There is so much I can do to you right now, and I won't regret any of it... So unless you don't value your life, you'd better be a good boy and listen to your 'host'." His hands were shaking from anger, and was doing his best to not loose his temper with the boy.

"Tch... You don't scare me..." Caruso retorted.

"I can give you a good reason to fear me..." Victor said, his eyes continuing to glow. "I can become your nightmare if you force my hand..." He warned the boy, talons growing from his fingers. Victor quickly calmed himself down. He was letting himself become a little desperate in controlling the child. He retracted his claws and smirked. All humans were the same to him. He could persuade the boy to obey him, just like how he got an army of humans to listen to his commands. He shouldn't let a little thing like the boy's attitude get to him.

"Ooo... I'm shaking!" Caruso said in a taunting manner, his arms tucked tightly to his chest and his hands clasping together. His eyes were wide with fear, but Victor knew better. The boy was just trying to taunt him. "Oh spare me your wrath, oh terrible one!"

Victor chortled softly, occasionally giving off his recognizable raptor growl. "Think what you want, child, but your attitude will change soon enough. I'll be sure of that."

Caruso growled. "Oh sure you will." The young teen responded as he rolled his eyes. "Just like how you were so sure your little cloud-infection plan would bring back the dinosaurs, only to be foiled by a bunch of teenagers." Caruso realized too late that he had said too much. His hands to his mouth, he muttered a single word, and gazed at Victor for a reaction. Victor didn't seem fazed by what he had said. He just continued to smile at him calmly. It wasn't a genuinely evil smile, but still, something about it was creeping him out.

"I was aware that you and your friends were behind that sabotage." Victor said as he leaned against the wall and folded his arms. "I must admit, that was pretty clever, especially for humans. Up until then, I did not think you monkeys had the brain capacity to be able to plan out an effective counterattack, trace me to the location, and then shoot rockets at the precise moment and freeze the primordial ooze inside. I hate to admit it..but I'm impressed." Victor said. While he was still smiling, his voice was a dead give away that it seemed to hurt him to say that about the very humans that have gotten in his way time and time again.

Caruso was a little stunned, and surprised at this. How had Victor found out? Maybe he had just taken his newfound knowledge that the perfect dinosaurs were human and put the pieces together. But then, how had he found out about the rockets? Victor was hidden above a thick cloud cover, and Ms. Moynihan had blocked Victor's equipment from seeing them. Was it possible she slipped up and Victor HAD seen them? No, if he had, he would have acted much faster.

Caruso tried to hide the fact that he was surprised. He frowned. "How did you know we did that?"

"After you 'perfect dinosaurs' fled the scene, I had ordered my men to search the area and inform me if they found anything. Well they did find something, human." Victor said, his smile broadening a little. "They found remains of five missiles." Caruso's eyes widened. Why hadn't they checked to make sure the missiles would leave no remains behind? "Sure it was just a few scraps here or there, but enough to confirm they were missiles. Ice missiles to be exact. And I knew whoever shot them must have known about the primordial ooze's weakness to cold. I had originally suspected that my old 'friend', Joanne Moynihan, was behind the sabotage, but my theory was...disproved quickly when I found the tracks of five motorcycles..."

"Oh yeah?" Caruso asked slowly as Victor gave him this information.

"Oh yes. And they appeared to be the very same tracks I had found before." Victor said. He did not know why he was telling the child this. But he saw no harm in it anyway. It wasn't like he was giving out future plans or anything. Well he could end up telling his teammates.. No! No he would not! There's no way for the little boy to escape, and even if he does and tells his teammates, all that would do was prove to them that he is not one to be underestimated. As Victor told Caruso about how he had seen the tracks before, Caruso gasped sharply, catching Victor's attention. "Hmm. Did I frighten you now?"

"More like..surprised." Caruso said quickly, raising a pointer finger up, but not pointing at anything in particular. "You said you saw these five tracks before?"

"Yes. When my mutant bird migration plan failed, I went to investigate. You kids may have moved fast enough to escape my eyes, but you weren't fast enough to escape my nose. I knew that someone, someone human, had sabotaged my plan. But..." Victor laughed a little, feeling amused by the idea of minors getting in his way. "..I never would have thought, or believed, that it was just a bunch of teenagers, high school students in fact, who were behind that sabotage as well as others."

"You should not underestimate humans." Caruso told Victor. "You've already seen what we're capable of doing. Humans stopped your plans, not dinosaurs."

"And yet you were only able to pull it off because you had the ability to change into a dinosaur." Victor said. "You would not have been able to stop the mutant birds if you couldn't turn into dinosaurs. And you would not have gotten away after you ruined my primordial ooze rain plan if you hadn't turned into dinosaurs."

Caruso opened up his mouth to disagree. "I..." But he couldn't find anything to say in defense. Victor had been right. They wouldn't have gotten away from Veloci's men if they hadn't turned into dinosaurs. Had they been spotted as humans, they can only guess what Veloci would have done. And they would have been easier to catch. He hated to admit it, but Victor was very right in what he had said. And Victor knew it.

"I'm right aren't I?" Victor sneered. "You can't deny it." He only got a glowered look from Caruso. Victor's smile disappeared, and his eyes slowly narrowing, but not in a threatening manner. He looked more puzzled than angry. "There is one thing I do not understand, however. If you humans have tasted the glory of being dinosaurs, why do you continue to vainly fight for your species? If you have felt what it's like to be the superior species, why continue to stand by these weaklings?"

Caruso's eyes started to glow, his pupils dilating like a cat's would in bright light. "Why don't you let me out and I'll show you just how 'weak' we humans really are!" Victor didn't answer the boy with anything but a laugh...

Near the front of the truck, just behind the driver's section of the Raptor Dyne Semi, sat Michelle and Oscura. They were glaring at each other with some level of intensity. It was clear that they were not on the best of terms at that moment. Michelle's eyes were wide, and a little red from anger. Oscura was hardly much different, though her eyes were narrowed so much that if they narrowed any further her eyes would close. They sat on opposite ends of the semi truck and their eyes bore into each other. If it weren't for the fact that they were forbidden to fight inside the truck, they would be each other's throats.

They had gotten into a fight in the truck before, once. They were both so angry at the time that now they completely forgot just what they were arguing about. But one thing apparently led to another, and the next thing they knew, they were in dino mode, wrestling each other. They caused a bit of damage, and nearly destroyed some of Victor's precious equipment that he had stored in there at the time. The girls' dispute had also temporarily distracted the driver and they nearly crashed. Victor was furious, but instead of firing the girls, he gave them a warning, telling them if they fought inside his semi again, they may face the consequences. They weren't sure if he had truly meant it, but they could not take the chances. They agreed and promised Victor they wouldn't do it again.

But now, it seemed like that promise was going to be broken if they didn't settle down soon. Michelle's eyes were already glowing like they would if she was going to transform. Her teeth were bared, her teeth mutated into fangs now. Her hand was clenched in a fist, and she stared haughtily at the younger teen before her. Oscura's eyes weren't glowing, but her hands at mutated, now scaly three-fingered hands, a long talon extending from each of them. She was using one of her reptilian hands to point a shaky claw at Michelle.

"Why would you show sympathy to that brat?!" Oscura spat. "He doesn't deserve sympathy! No human does!"

"Why are you acting like such a..a.. monster?!" Michelle snapped. "What's wrong with showing some kindness to the boy? It's not like I was bonding with him or anything..!"

"That's exactly what you were doing!" Oscura growled, her teeth bared and lips curled up in an animalistic style, a habit she picked up from being a Troodon. A bit of drool dribbled from the side. "You were associating with him! Talking to him! You were growing soft as you spoke to him! Continue to talk to him like that, Michelle, and who knows what Victor might..."

"I wasn't..." Michelle said to try to defend herself, but Oscura cut her off.

"Oh, don't even think about lying!" Oscura said with venom in her voice. "Victor overheard you talking to Caruso, and he was not that happy with what you were telling him! And he had told me about it too."

"W-Well if that's true, then why didn't he say anything to me?" Michelle asked, her voice just a tad shaky. Perhaps she was growing sympathetic for the boy. She didn't have so much doubt anymore. Victor believed she was growing a bit attached to the boy in some form or other.

Oscura's expression softened up, but only by the slightest. She said, "He's decided to let it slide this time. But he does not want you getting attached to that boy. As a precaution, he's requested that when we get to the lab that only he may have contact with the child. You, me, and everyone else are ordered to stay away from him." Oscura cautiously eyed the door that Victor had disappeared into before continuing her explanation. "The boy will be kept in isolation, his only visitor being Victor."

"Isolate him?!" Michelle snapped her head back.

"Yes...isolate him. Why? Is that a problem with you?" Oscura asked as she narrowed her eyes back to the way they were just a few moments ago.

"Well, it's just that humans don't always cope well in isolation for too long." Michelle explained. "And almost any human can break if they are kept in isolation long enough..."

Before she could continue, she heard Oscura chuckle. "That's exactly what Victor wants." She said. "Don't you remember? I thought he told you he wanted to break Caruso's will to make him submit to him, to obey him."

"Yes he did tell me that." Michelle said, the anger in her voice starting to die down as she started to submit to Oscura's words. She was running out of options to defend herself, and slowly realizing that Oscura was indeed correct after all. And she should not have acted so surprised when Oscura had told her Victor was going to isolate Caruso from all contact except his. Victor was the type of person who usually wanted other people to do his job for him, but when the matter is urgent enough, he wants to tackle it himself. As the saying goes, if you want something done right, you do it yourself. "Still..." She managed to say. "What if the isolation does little to affect his mind?"

Oscura chuckled. "Oh don't worry about that." Oscura said as she shifted her claws back to normal. Michelle did likewise, turning her eyes and teeth back to normal as well. "Victor has a plan. I believe he mentioned it to you."

"Yes..." Michelle said slowly, sinking down onto the floor. Like Oscura had moments ago, she looked over at the door, expecting Victor to come out. "But he didn't tell me what it was."

Oscura chuckled lightly, smiling in an almost creepy way. "Oh didn't he know..?" She asked in taunting voice.

"Would you mind telling me what he plans on doing?" Michelle inquired. It felt almost amazing to her that the hostility between her and Oscura had died down so quickly. Their relationship was like that. The fire would be ignited, and burn fiercely, but just as quickly as it would start, it would put itself out.

Oscura sat down as well, her arms crossed. "I am sorry, but I've been advised not to tell you for the time being. Victor believes it might..complicate things." She said coolly before turning her head to the door as she heard it open up, and Victor stepped out, a pissed off look on his face...

The drive up to the lighthouse had only taken about ten minutes, but it felt like an eternity for the parents of Irwin. Their minds were clouded with worrying and desperate questions on their son's location. Will they ever see him again? Where was he? Was he all right? The world seemed to slow down for them, the ride up the lighthouse taking longer than ever before, from their perspective anyway. Jack had tried his best to calm his wife down, but he could not get her to settle down. She would continue to break down, and he could not blame her. He was trying to be strong for the both of them, but he did not know how long he could hold out. He gripped the steering wheel tightly and sighed.

He began to wonder if it was a good idea to allow Irwin to continue running around with the Dino Squad everyday. Perhaps he should have used his better judgment and forbidden it. If he had, maybe Irwin would be safe at home right now, eating the breakfast his mother made him, which was still in the fridge. But then again, Irwin had made a convincing argument. Although he and the others did not become a team by choice, they had still worked together for the greater good. They and their mentor were the only ones that stood between Victor and his plans. And Irwin had helped thwart Victor before, as well as fought against his men and mutantsaurs and made it out all right.

His Stegosaurus form had given him an advantage. A fully grown adult Stegosaurus at that, with a spiked tail and plates. That made him a formidable and imposing opponent. Jack felt thankful that his son was blessed with this dinosaur form, although it was a bit hard to accept at first. The thought of his son turning into some prehistoric monster sounded scary, and his wife, Amanda, had an even harder time accepting it. She had almost fainted when she first laid eyes on Irwin's plates. And when he had transformed into the real thing...

"We're almost at the lighthouse, dear." He said, breaking the silence that had settled in the car. He glanced over at his wife, who was staring vacantly out the front window. She was staring out at the watery horizon that stretched out far beyond the lighthouse, which was now within sight. She did not immediately respond to him. "Dear..?" He said, nudging her with one elbow while he used the other to keep steering straight.

"Oh..hmm...?" Amanda said softly, her attention not yet completely on him.

"We're almost at the lighthouse." Jack said, repeating the same thing he said just a few seconds prior.

She broke her gaze from the horizon and turned to her husband. Her eyes were still red from her crying, but she had settled down now. Crying was not going to help, she knew. Her mind should be focused on getting her son back, not mourn over him like he was dead. The word dead stuck in her mind, and stung like a bee sting. Her worst fear was someone finding Irwin and using the word dead in any sentence.

"Do you..." Amanda said, finally speaking in the last ten minutes. "Do you think that...we'll be able to find Irwin before..." She could not bring herself to finish her question. She was getting choked up again.

Jack wanted to hug her, to comfort her in his embrace, but he couldn't now, not while he was driving. He gave her a comforting smile, trying his best to hide his own fears. "Don't worry. We'll find him and bring him back." He said as they neared the lighthouse. They would be there in a couple minutes.

A couple minutes later, Buzz heard the sound of a car pulling up to the lighthouse. He went to the window and peered through it. He saw Caruso's parents' car parking in front, the lights on the front shutting off as the engine died. The door opened up, and the man and woman stepped out slowly. Buzz turned to Ms. Moynihan. "They're here, Ms. M."

Ms. Moynihan nodded once, and attempted to stand up again. She lifted herself up using her stronger right leg and pushing on the couch. She gingerly placed her left leg on the ground, slowly applying pressure on the foot. She had managed to overcome the pain before only because the commotion outside had raised the adrenaline inside of her. But there was no danger present at the moment. She managed to take one step before succumbing to the pain, and she fell back in her couch.

"That's one nasty strained ankle..." Buzz commented, noting how red the ankle still looked despite treatment from Rodger and Moynihan's dino DNA. "I thought you said it would have healed quicker."

"That's what I was thinking too." Ms. Moynihan said as she gently rubbed the swollen ankle. "I guess I hit it harder than I thought." She let out a small grunt of pain before nodding in Max's direction. "Can you bring me my cane? It's upstairs, in the room where the equipment is..or was." She gazed up in an almost nervous manner, recalling how she had been knocked down from that floor to this floor. She was a bit amazed she survived the fall with no mortal wounds.

Max turned to the spiral staircase, giving a nod to his teacher. "I'll be back down soon." With that, the jock disappeared up the staircase. And as he walked up the staircase, a knock came from the door to the lighthouse.

"It must be them." Ms. Moynihan said. She looked at the door and could make out the silhouettes of Caruso's parents just outside of the door.

"I'll get it." Rodger said as he got up and made his way to the door. He stopped a couple inches in front of it and raised his hand. He hesitated for a few seconds, and drew in a deep breath. The african-american squeezed his hand around the doorknob, turned it, and opened it up. He was greeted with the sight of two worried parents. The wife, he could tell, had done some crying. Her eyes had a reddish coloration to them. The husband seemed to be better composed, but he had a downcast look in his eyes which told him he was very upset too. "Hello, Mr. and Ms. Caruso." He greeted them solemnly. "Please, come on." He stepped aside and held his free hand out straight, a signal for them to come inside.

Max made his way up the stairs at a slow but steady pace. He noticed that the top of the staircase, usually illuminated by the computers that were arranged up in the top floor, was mostly dark, with the occasional brief lighting. He gave a sigh as he recalled what Moynihan had told him took place up here. It was a bit eerie to think that, just a few days ago, everything in this place was pretty much normal. Well normal by Dino Squad standards anyway. It was just a few days ago when Caruso and Buzz had that fight over a picture.

He winced a little. Thinking about Caruso right now seemed to hurt him. He had never gotten a chance to talk to Caruso about earlier. While he had apologized, he never truly settled things with the boy. Now it seems like that chance was snatched away from him. Irwin was now with Victor, and now they don't know where his location is. Max clenched his teeth at the thought of losing his best friend.

He was so preoccupied with his own guilt he failed to notice he had reached the top of the staircase. He lifted up his foot too high, expecting another step to be there. The miscalculation caused him to trip, and he fell to the ground. "Ow!" He moaned as his chin slammed into the hard surface. He put his hands flat on the ground, like he would if he was doing sit-ups, and pushed himself off the ground, shaking his head a few times, and slowly rose onto his feet. He placed his hand on his chin and rubbed it gingerly. "That's gonna leave a mark." He murmured.

He opened up his eyes, and gasped at the sight that lay before him.

The computers were all smashed, broken and torn open. They lay on the floor, the monitors smashed open. He could see smoke still rising from the wreckage. The scent got into Max's nose, and he wrinkled his nostrils in disgust. Sparks were still shooting out, though harmless, from many openings in the computers. The place was just a mess. There was no terminal left undamaged. Even Moynihan's laptop computer lay broken up on the ground.

Max could hear the sizzling sound of the sparks as they kept shooting outward. He looked the room over once more. The biggest damage was from the computers, but much of the other parts of the room seemed in tact, such as the couch that was up against a large window. Max could visualize himself and his friends on that couch, chatting about something to pass the time, or telling jokes, just having a good time. He smiled softly at the memory. It felt good to have his mind on something else for a while. It caused a feeling of happiness rise up inside of him. He started to talk towards the couch, but he didn't take more than three steps before his foot caught on something and he nearly fell again.

But this time he caught himself, flailing his arms quickly to catch his balance. "Whoa!" He shouted before his body finally found its balance again, and he was able to relax. "Now what did I trip on...?" He gazed down to find just what his foot got caught on, and noticed something long and wooden. "Ms. Moynihan's cane!" He knelt down and gripped it.

Looking it over, he couldn't see anything wrong with it. No bite marks, no scratch marks, no blood stains. He held it in his hands and started to walk back to the staircase when something else caught his eye. He knelt down at a spot parallel to where he found the cane. There was something on the ground, but he couldn't tell what it was at first. It looked rather dark in color, some sort of splotch on the ground. And it wasn't the only one. Around it were a couple more. There wasn't a large pile, so it didn't alarm Maxwell, but it still was unexpected.

As he examined closer, he could see that there was a tinge of red in the blackness of the small spots on the ground. He then realized the blood most likely came from Moynihan during her struggle with Michelle. Moynihan did say Michelle had bitten her on the ankle and pulled her off. It was obvious that Michelle did not need to bite too hard nor needed too much strength. There was little to no wound left behind and the bleeding stopped pretty quickly it seems.

"I better not keep her waiting." He told himself. He forgot about the blood on the ground, and forgot about the computers. He made his way back to the staircase, and began to descend down the steps, where he knew Ms. Moynihan would be waiting for him.

In the several minutes that had passed since Victor had left the room and returned to the front seat, things were eerily silent in the Raptor Dyne SUV. Victor hadn't said anything about what was bothering him, but Michelle and Oscura were sure it had to do with Caruso. Michelle wasn't surprised. She had witnessed some of Caruso's behavior first-hand, and he does seem like the kind of person who would say things just to get on one's nerves. The brat must've made a wise-crack comment at Victor and that's why the multi-billionaire was steamed.

"I wonder what got him so steamed." Oscura asked again, not being the first time she stated this question.

"I already told you." Michelle groaned. "It's because of Caruso."

"And how do you know?" Oscura inquired. While she did agree that it had to do with Caruso, she decided to act like she didn't understand, just to get on Michelle's nerves a bit. She liked annoying her partner.

"Because he seems like someone who likes to get on other people's nerves. He probably made some stupid comment back in there, and Victor overreacted to it." Michelle explained as she eyed Victor nervously. She didn't want him to hear her.

Oscura chuckled, shrugging off Michelle's idea like it were a leaf on her shoulder. "Well even if Caruso did say something stupid, Victor would ensure he never do that again. Sooner or later, Caruso will regret his words." It was true. Victor didn't tolerate much, if any, mocking comments about himself or about dinosaurs in general. Especially Velociraptors, he's more protective of that race than any other dinosaurs. That makes sense. He is, after all, a Velociraptor himself.

"So very true. For his own sake, that Caruso kid had better watch his yap." Michelle noted, slowly turning her gaze to the door that held Caruso inside. "Who knows what Victor will do to him if he keeps up that attitude."

"Oh who cares?" Oscura rolled her eyes. Oscura wasn't the type to be really concerned about anyone but herself. She didn't really care what Victor did to the boy. It's his own business anyway. "Caruso should consider himself lucky I'm following Victor's orders anyway. I'm not allowed to harm the boy." She gave Michelle a strange look. "But trust me, if I had total freedom, I'd do a number on that boy, just for the heck of it."

"Heh." That was typical Oscura, Michelle thought. "Well I honestly hope he keeps himself out of trouble."

"And why would you care?" Oscura narrowed her eyes. "Are you actually concerned about him? You barely even know him!" Her voice sounded like a combination of accusation, a bit of confusion, but mostly anger.

"No! No, of course not!" Michelle said defensively, on her feet and hands formed into fists. "I don't care about him! I'm just worried that he might cause Victor to waste too much time and energy on him, that's all." Michelle started to make her way towards the door, not wanting to hear another wise crack from Oscura. There were days she could tolerate Oscura's attitude, and some days when she just couldn't. And today was one of those days. Oscura always knew what to say to get on another's nerves. That reminded her of what she's seen so far of Caruso.

For a brief moment, she wondered if the two were, in fact, related. She laughed at the idea. If she found out this to be true, she'd never let either of them live it down. Oh if only she had a camcorder if it were true! It would be a Kodak moment! Maybe she could even upload the footage on the internet to further their humiliation. She grinned evilly at the thought. This would be her payback to those two idiots. They would be begging for her mercy.

Oscura didn't say anything. She was finally growing a bit weary from pestering Michelle this time around. She was more interested in pestering Caruso. Only Victor's orders kept her at bay. She wondered how long Caruso was going to last in the laboratory. She wondered how long he could endure the experiments that were going to be conducted on him. Their results would prove vital for Victor's quest. She admired Victor ever since she was younger. Even before she had known he was a dinosaur, she thought he was cute looking.

Her crush on Victor was just a bit of puppy love, minor. She had no real desire to marry him; she thought that would be weird. But she still liked being around him. Back at home, she didn't really talk to anyone. She didn't have a real hatred towards them. She just didn't feel all that close to them. They did know of where Oscura goes during the day, and did not really object to it. Oscura didn't know if it was because they trusted Victor or because they didn't care if she was around or not. She closed her eyes. Being around Victor and causing havoc were the only things that made her feel happy.

She opened up her eyes and saw that Michelle had reached the door that lead into Caruso's little prison. Her eyes narrowing, she pondered what Michelle was going to do in there. She was probably just going to have a quick chat with the boy, or perhaps bring him more food. She didn't see the reason to that though. The teen must have eaten not too long ago. Unless he had a big appetite, he shouldn't be hungry already. She decided to ask anyway. She saw no harm in it. "Michelle, what are you doing?"

Michelle groaned. She was hoping to enter the room without being disturbed. She glanced in Oscura's direction with an annoyed look on her face. "Well if you really have to know, Oscura, I'm just going to check up on Caruso."

"Heheheh. Worried about your little boyfriend?" Oscura sneered, not able to resist a taunting retort.

"He is not my boyfriend!" Michelle snapped, her eyes showing the slightest hint of a glow.

Oscura only shrugged at this statement. "With the way you're acting, it almost seems like you consider him your boyfriend."

"Oooh!" Michelle moaned, but said nothing more. She turned around swiftly and held up her hand to grab the door knob. She would have grabbed it had it not been for Victor's voice that suddenly shouted from the front of the vehicle.

"DON'T EVEN THINK OF GOING BACK HERE! LET THE LITTLE BRAT BE ALONE!" Victor said in a cold tone. The shout caused a tingle to go up Michelle's spine. Just what had Caruso said to piss Victor off so much? The tone of Victor's voice scared her. She almost never sees Victor this upset. And whenever she does, she wishes she hadn't. She was grateful that Victor didn't show up in person this time. She was grateful that his head was turned and she was facing the door. She gulped, and slowly lowered her arm and backed away.

She turned to her sitting position near Oscura. Exhaling deeply, she leaned against the wall and lowered herself slowly to the ground. She placed her head on her hands and looked to the ground, unsure of what to do now other than wait for them to reach their destination.

"Awww... is poor wittle Michelle thinking about her poor wittle boyfriend?" Oscura teased.

"Shut up!" Michelle yelled. "He's not my boyfriend!"

"Ooo so scary..." Oscura mockingly said. Michelle groaned, but didn't say anything.

Caruso was leaning against the wall of his cage, his legs crossed and his arms resting on his thighs. His head was bowed, looking at the ground. He was deep in thought. Just moments ago, before he had pissed off Victor, the Velociraptor had, for whatever reason, brought up Ms. Moynihan, and had asked a few questions about her. He didn't know if Victor was actually being serious or not. He wasn't sure if Victor really wanted him to answer those questions.

Victor was asking things like how Moynihan was doing, what has she been doing at the school, how does she train them, how she managed to interfere with him for so long without getting caught, and other questions as well. Caruso hadn't answered them, and he wondered if that could have contributed to Victor becoming upset. No, that wasn't it, he knew. It was something he had said to Victor after all the questions were asked. It was a question rather than a statement, though. He had asked Victor why he had broken Ms. Moynihan's ankle. In spite of being told from Moynihan herself, he had asked Victor himself why he did that.

Victor looked pretty angry at the question. Caruso wasn't sure if it was because he had asked, or if it was because Victor was upset that Moynihan had told someone about it. Victor hadn't actually responded to him. Instead he had just groaned, looking a bit steamed, and stormed out of the room. The response wasn't what he was expecting and took him by surprise. Victor wasn't the type to just become angry like that. In this encounters with the crazy raptor, he had rarely shown true anger. Then again the encounters with Victor in the past were brief and seldom. Perhaps there was a side of Victor he hadn't seen yet, or so little of.

Then his thoughts drifted away from Victor and to Moynihan herself. To this day, he didn't really understand how Ms. Moynihan could ever have been involved with Victor. He didn't really know what she did when she used to be Victor's partner. Moynihan didn't really discuss this topic that much, and he was sure he would not get any answers from Victor. He seems a bit hostile towards Moynihan, and has long considered her a traitor, from what the Dino Squad's mentor had told Caruso. And yet there seemed to be a somewhat longing look in his eyes, like he wants Moynihan back. But Caruso knew the old woman would never rejoin Victor.

And that got him thinking. Just what had Moynihan done to betray Victor? Join the humans yes, but he didn't think that was the cataclysm. If Moynihan had once agreed with Victor, what made her disagree with him? What turned her against him? Caruso wondered if he should ask Victor, but shook that thought out of his mind as he recalled Victor's reaction to his earlier question. He didn't really know why he felt compelled to ask these questions, though. Was he feeling doubt about his mentor?

No, that couldn't be it. Caruso trusted Moynihan, as well as the Dino Squad. He didn't see much reason to be suspicious of them. And yet he can't shake off the feelings he endured when he first acquired his dinosaur genes, before he learned to control them, and before there was any Dino Squad. He and the others had gone to Moynihan's classroom after school after they had failed their tide pool assignment. Ms. Moynihan wasn't too thrilled with them when she learned they weren't acting like a team at all, and wanted to talk to them about it.

And that's when the old woman found out they had dinosaur DNA in their blood. She had witnessed their bodies spontaneously transforming, showing a bit of the dinosaur that was now inside of them all. And when she confronted them about it, they quickly tried to hide it. But they couldn't fool Ms. Moynihan. Caruso was worried about what she was going to say, but instead of freaking out or reporting them, Ms. Moynihan seemed very understanding, and knew what was going on. She was willing to open up to them and reveal to them the truth about herself.

That must have taken a lot of guts, Caruso thought. The female raptor had probably kept her secret safe from all humans for so long. He didn't know what exactly compelled her to tell them the truth. Was it because she wanted to protect them from Victor? If they hadn't gone to Ms. Moynihan that night and never gotten control of their powers, Victor would have spotted them quickly and taken them to his lab.

But one thing had bothered Caruso back then. He had felt quite uneasy when Moynihan had revealed that she was a Velociraptor. He remembered the feeling of terror he had when he found out. He had packed away from her, and accused her of being a vicious carnivore. He felt a little calmer when she assured him she evolved beyond that a long time ago, but it took a little time before he felt calm around her again. It was hard to imagine Moynihan once being this vicious predator of the Cretaceous period. She certainly didn't act like he would think a Velociraptor would.

He gazed up at the barred window again. He didn't know what was compelling him to keep looking there. Maybe it was because it was his only view of the outside world now. Maybe it was because he felt a tinge of hope every time he looked there. He began to wonder what was going on at the lighthouse right now. He couldn't stop thinking about his friends, family, and mentor for very long. They kept returning to his thoughts. He sighed softly. "I wonder if they have a plan yet." He whispered to himself.

He was confident his friends would find them. They would figure out a plan soon and come rescue him. That he was sure of. But he also wondered if Victor had been right. Maybe his friends would never find him until Victor wants him to be found. They didn't know where his secret lair was anyway. Ms. Moynihan might know, but what if he had relocated since their broken partnership? Or what if there was no secret lair when they were partners? If so, then Moynihan would have no knowledge of any secret locations anywhere, at least when it comes to Victor.

Caruso suddenly felt a little sleepy. His eyelids began to droop, and it was becoming difficult to keep them open. His vision was a bit blurry now, and his mind was becoming foggy. He glanced down at the tray, where the sandwich once was and were the drink still sits. He began to wonder if he had been drugged, or if the stress of all this was causing him to become sleepy. But he didn't have long to think. He slumped onto the floor and closed his eyes, succumbing to the darkness.

Above Caruso's cage, where it was hidden from his view, there was a small vent. It was usually closed with three thick bars straight across, but now they had opened up. A very light gray, almost invisible, smoke seeped through and spread around the room. The gas had traveled along a small network of thin pipes running in the structure of the truck, although its true source is unknown. The cloudy gas continued to fill the room. Finally the vents had closed up tightly, and any new gas couldn't get through. But whatever had gotten into the room, it still lingered in the air.

Up in the front of the Raptor Dyne SUV, Victor had his finger pressed tightly against one of the buttons, a small green one. He slowly lifted up his finger, and leaned back in his chair. "That should keep him quiet for the rest of the trip." He said to no one in particular, though his driver had heard him loud and clear. The man at the wheel didn't bother to look over at Victor, instead just keeping his eye on the road, hands gripping the wheel gently but firmly.

"Mr. Veloci," he said in a polite tone, "I don't want to question your methods, but why did you see it necessary to tranquilize the kid? He can't see where he is back there."

"Why do you question me, Peter?" Veloci asked.

Sitting next to him in the driver's seat was Peter. He had joined the team the same day that the perfect dinosaurs had first appeared. He showed a lot of great potential and had been working for Victor for a few years in his pseudo-company before Victor trusted him enough to let him in on his true goals. Peter wasn't a man of violence, and was at first unwilling to accept the truth of his employer. But Victor had quickly gotten the man to change his mind when he promised him power, and had also promised that he wouldn't hurt his family.

But the true motivation of Peter to change sides was the hope of revenge. At his previous job, Peter had been a scientist, working with another company similar to Raptor Dyne, although this company was more focused on speeding up the process of evolution itself rather than reversing it. He was the head scientist there, and had impressed his old employers time and again, until one little slip up got him fired. He had accidentally caused a fire in the laboratory, and as a result a few employees were killed. Despite his best efforts to keep his job, the company no longer wanted him, and he was thrown out into the streets.

It was Victor who had quickly found him. Having heard of him and his work, he took him into his company, Raptor Dyne. After being told the truth, and growing used to the idea, Peter decided he could use this to his advantage and take revenge on the employers who had him fired. While he admitted it seemed a little silly for him to still be upset about that, since it happened almost five years ago, he still held a vendetta against that company.

Victor had given Peter some experimental DNA. It was swimming with Peter's nanobots, which were designed to alter the DNA pattern of any living creature it was inserted into. It did not harm the host, but did change its appearance as amino acids were altered and transformed. The small amount that was in the syringe, as Victor had told him sometime afterward, contained the only amount of perfect DNA he had. When Peter asked him why he didn't just use that amount to mass produce the perfected DNA, Victor said that he did not know the DNA was perfected until after it was injected, and efforts to repeat the process were unsuccessful.

Peter had learned that he was the only adult employee of Vic's who could transform into a dinosaur, at least at the time. But he had been forbidden to use that technique because Victor was not sure of the effects the nanobots may have. His fear was that they would take control of Peter's mind and cause him to run amuck and destroy precious equipment or cause unnecessary destruction that could be tied to his company. And the last thing Victor really needed was getting sued by a multitude of people, which would drain his company's money reserve and slow him down.

"I'm sorry, sir." Peter said. "I just don't really understand the purpose of silencing him. He can't call anyone, and it's not like he can climb out of the cage and out the window..."

"You just concentrate on driving, and leave the scheming to me." Victor said, narrowing his eyes slightly.

"Yes sir." Peter had said nervously, gripping the wheel a little tighter.

Peter's dinosaur form would come in handy though, Victor thought to himself as he sensed they were getting close to his company's secret hideout. After he obtained a sample, he discovered that Peter had the perfect DNA pattern of a large sauropod, an Apatosaurus to be exact. Sauropod DNA, for unknown reasons, were among some of the most difficult to duplicate. Victor had not yet been able to reproduce this DNA, must to his frustration.

An Apatosaurus would be more than a match for the perfect dinosaurs that keep getting in his way. Sauropods were among the largest of all dinosaurs, and even the mighty T-Rex would succumb to their power. He had considered allowing Peter to transform to face off with the Dino Squad, but thought better of it. While the rewards were satisfactory, the risks were still enormous and he just couldn't risk it yet. He hadn't helped Peter gain control of the beast within him because he wasn't sure if he actually needed any help. Peter had never transformed, and Victor didn't want to take the chance of him transforming and going wild.

But still... perhaps he could take that risk, if Peter were to be located far away from Raptor Dyne and any of his other employers. The pesky Dino Squad would probably be on his trail soon anyway. They were probably making a plot right now to take back their friend. And the lighthouse still posed a threat to his mission. The destruction of the equipment was temporary of course. They could get new equipment at anytime. The only way to ensure that would never happen was to destroy the lighthouse completely.

And that's where Peter could come in.

"Peter..." Veloci spoke up, his eyes transforming to that of a raptor's.

"Y-Yes sir?" Peter asked nervously, unsure of what to expect.

"Why don't you stop the truck for a minute?" Victor ordered softly, eyeing the side of the road.

Peter did as he was asked, pulling the car up to the side of the road. He pulled the stick down to Park and lifted his foot off the pedal. He turned to face Victor, and pulled off his Raptor Dyne mask. Underneath was the face of a young man, about as handsome as Victor. He had a beard stereotypical of that of an Italian artist. His hear was short and smooth, a rich dark black with a single reddish stripe down the middle. At first glance it would almost seem like he and Victor were brothers, or related in some other way.

"So..why did you want me to stop?" Peter asked, an eyebrow cocked up a little.

"Why don't you pay the lighthouse a visit..as a dinosaur?" Victor asked, but Peter knew it was an order, and he did not have a choice in the matter.

"What...?" Peter asked, a bit stunned. "But..I thought I wasn't allowed to transform. You said there could be dire consequences if..."

"I know what I said. But the lighthouse remains a threat, and it must be destroyed. And you just might be the man..or dinosaur in this case, to pull off that job." Victor responded, cutting off Peter before he could finish. "Yes there is a risk involved, but the chance of destroying Joanne's little hideout and ensuring my victory is worth it."

Peter blinked a few times, wondering if he was hearing Victor correctly. He wondered, briefly, what was compelling Victor to go against his own advice. And the way he was saying that there was a risk involved, and the possible result of victory being worth it, he quickly wondered if Victor was sacrificing him. But that thought was shook out of his mind. Victor wasn't the type to needlessly sacrifice his own men if they served a special purpose to Raptor Dyne.

"Understood, Veloci." Peter finally responded. "But who's gonna..." He eyed the wheel of the vehicle. He needn't continue for Victor to know what the rest of the question was going to say.

"I'll drive." Victor said to him. "Only return back to Raptor Dyne when you are successful."

Peter stepped out of the vehicle and Victor quickly climbed into the drive's seat. Peter quickly realized he had no mode of transportation. He held up a finger at Veloci, a gesture, characteristic of humans, that meant 'Hold on!'. Victor's hand was gripping the handle on the door, but he held it in place, waiting patiently for Victor to say something.

"I have no mode of transportation..." Peter explained. "How am I supposed to get to the lighthouse?"

Dr. Veloci just smiled. "Why not give your dinosaur form a test drive?" He slammed the door shut and pressed his foot on the accelerator, having pushed the stick back up to Drive. The vehicle picked up speed quickly, screeching as it went back into the lane it was in previously and continued down the road to where Raptor Dyne was.

Peter slumped his shoulders and sighed. Looks like he was going to have to walk all the way back there. He turned in the direction where they had just come from. They had been driving for a considerable amount of time, and the lighthouse was far behind them. He couldn't even see the shoreline from here. But he did know the area well, and knew what roads to take. Walking as a human would take days. He would ultimately fail in his task this way. By then the Dino Squad would have recovered enough to find Victor.

Peter had not encountered the Dino Squad that much. But he had heard stories about them, and what they were capable of. Some of his comrades described to them how these perfect dinosaurs seemed to have a human level of intelligence. At first, Peter only laughed it off. But his mind was slowly changed after the incident in the park, after the primordial ooze rain had failed. A close friend of Peter's had been on that team that hunted the dinosaurs, and he was amazed at his friend's description of what happened. The way the dinosaurs had avoided the traps, and tricked the ground team like that, it could only have been possible if they were very intelligent. After all, normal dinosaurs would have been pretty easy to catch, considering their puny brain size.

Peter hesitated in transforming. He felt a bit concerned of what would happen when his body, and brain, transformed. Would he still be himself? Would he still have his own memories, his own thoughts? Or would they, too, be altered as he changed form? Perhaps he would become dinosaur one hundred percent, in both mind and body. And if that happened, there was little hope of him changing back. He doubt Victor would create an antidote for his experimental DNA.

He gulped once, knowing that time was of the essence. "Okay..here goes nothing." He said, and he concentrated on his dinosaur form. He closed his eyes tightly for a few seconds, then snapped them open, revealing a yellow iris with lizard-like pupils. The eyes started to glow as Peter's body was overtaken by a bluish glow. His body rapidly grew in height as his clothes dematerialized. His hands and feet soon resembled that of an elephant's, but lacking any evidence of hair. A long tail appeared from behind, stretching out several feet. His neck stretched so much he almost looked like a giraffe. His back teeth disappeared and his incisors stretched to resemble pegs.

When he had finished, he had become an Apatosaurus, solid gray in color. He could easily tower over the largest of T-Rexes. His massive body stretched over seventy feet in length, and he easily tipped the scale at over twenty-two metric tons. He raised his elongated neck to look over the horizon. He still couldn't see the lighthouse, but nevertheless, without fear, he began to walk towards the lighthouse. Despite his huge size, Peter's strides were much longer now, covering a distance of a few yards in just one step. He would reach the lighthouse soon, he sensed. And when he got there, the fun would begin.

'I just hope I do not fail.' Peter thought to himself, a dread filling his mind. He knew he must succeed, or never return.

A few hours passed by. In the lighthouse, Jack was still helping Rodger and Fiona with building a tracking device to help locate Victor, and more importantly, their son. Max was busy talking with Amanda, trying to calm her down. Buzz was tending to Rump and Moynihan's wounds. He wasn't much of an expert on how to treat an injury, but he at least knew how to change the bandages, under Rodger's previous guidance. Max had come down earlier with Moynihan's cane and handed it to her. The woman had used the cane to help her walk around a little, but even with the support of the cane, it was still painful to walk. The swelling gone down slightly, though, so that was a bit of good news.

Moynihan lay seated again, but this time in her recliner. This is where she would usually do her knitting, but today she wasn't in the mood. Her knitting equipment was next to her, but she paid it no mind. Her attention was focused on the table in front of her. On it where some computer equipment, and sitting in the chairs were Rodger, Fiona, and Jack. They were busy putting together a whole new computer from scratch. They had been working on it for an hour now, and they looked like they were almost done.

"There." Jack said, wiping his brow. "It's finished." He put his hands on the table and pushed himself back to get out of his seat.

"But the question is, will it work?" Fiona said, eyeing the computer. It was smaller than most she'd grown accustomed to. It was a mixture of black and light gray parts and the monitor was slightly cracked but still functional. There was a small keyboard attached to it and a square mouse, reminiscent of the old computers from the 80's.

"I'm sure it will." Jack said with confidence in his voice.

"Mr. Caruso is right, Fiona. This computer may not look like much, but it has enough processing power and capabilities to find Caruso. All we need to do is turn it on..." Rodger said as he hovered his finger near the power button.

"But what if it doesn't?" Fiona said, feeling worried. "We weren't able to get new or up-to-date parts from that store. Maybe we should have actually gone to a computer store to get new parts."

"But we already told you, Ms. Moynihan was not able to spare enough money for us to get any computer in Computer King." Rodger pointed out. "And the only other store nearby was that pawn shop. We were lucky they were having a special on computer parts."

"Yeah, from, like, a million years ago." Fiona said as she held up a rusted piece of metal in disgust. "Most of this belongs in the garbage."

"Well, here goes nothing." Rodger said, and he pushed the button. Everyone else watched in anticipation. They were hoping the screen would light up, and from there be able to show them where Victor is currently heading. They heard the computer's gears starting to whir to life. The screen started to glow, faintly, but still a glow, and white text started to appear on the screen.

"It's working!" Max said, grinning happily.

"Yes!" Rodger exclaimed. "I knew it was going to work!" Jack smiled, impressed with Rodger and Fiona's ingenuity. He glanced over at his wife, and smiled as her eyes were filled with newfound hope. Ms. Moynihan hadn't gotten up from her seat to get a better view, but she was excited all the same. She waited patiently for the computer to start doing its job, as was everyone else.

But then, just as things were starting to look up, something was going terribly wrong. A weird beeping sound sounded out from the computer, and smoke started to emerge from the back of the monitor. Sparks started to fly out through the tiny cracks in the monitor as the screen started to wobble and sizzle, displaying an array of colors and numbers.

Rodger's eyes widened in horror. "No..please..no!" He tried to turn the computer off, but when he pushed the button an electrical shock caught him off guard. "Yeow!" He screamed as he pulled his finger back, clutching it to his chest.

The computer's beeping sound grew louder, and the monitor started to crack a bit more. The monitor continued to display numbers and colors, flashing even faster now. Then just when they thought it was going to explode, the computer just died, the screen disappearing in the flash of a bright light, and the crackling slowly stopped. Jack quickly sat back in, pulling the computer towards him and frantically pushing the buttons to try to turn it on again, but no dice. The computer had just overheated and died right in front of them.

"No...no..." Amanda whispered, holding her hands to her mouth in dread.

"Not now! We were so close!" Fiona said, dismayed at the site of the smoke billowing from the ruined computer.

Jack closely examined the computer and quickly discovered the problem. "Darn it!" He cursed, clutching his fist into a hand. "We forgot to put in the fan in the monitor! No wonder it overheated quickly and blew!" He dug his fingers into the skin of his head in frustration, gritting his teeth. They were back to square one again.

Ms. Moynihan bowed her head slightly in despair. Their attempt at locating Caruso had failed. The computer had quickly ceased to function due to a simple error. Moynihan, sadly, didn't have any extra spare money to give them anymore. Getting more parts was out of the question. And the computers upstairs were damaged beyond repair. Max had gotten a better look at them. While he was no computer technician, what he described seemed to tell Moynihan repairing them was hopeless. Every method of tracking was now lost, either destroyed or non-functioning.

Rodger was hunched over the table. The same furious look he got when his friends laughed at him when the project failed was back. His fists were squeezed tightly, and the muscles in his arms tensed up. He let out a disgruntled groan of frustration, and suddenly raised his arms in the air and slammed them hard on the table. The force of the slam made a sound loud enough to startle everyone in the room.

Moynihan let out a sharp startled gasp at Rodger's behavior. "Rodger!" She exclaimed. "What did you do that for?" She couldn't believe that Rodger would do such a thing. Well she shouldn't be surprised, she thought. Rodger must have felt like a failure.

"It's just not fair!" Rodger yelled, ignoring Moynihan's question. "This should have worked!"

Max walked slowly over to his huge friend. Tentatively, he placed a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to help calm him down. "Hey, Rodg, calm down will you? It's not your fault..." But Rodger shoved his hand away, but didn't bother turning around to look at Max in the eyes. "Rodger..."

Amanda made her way towards her husband. She was fighting to hold back her tears. She knew she had to try to be stronger, like her husband. She slowly grabbed his hand, and squeezed it gently. He squeezed it in return, and draped an arm around her as they watched the unsettling scene of Rodger blaming himself and Max trying to snap him out of it. Her eyes lingered on the computer, their one hope of locating Caruso, still billowing out gray smoke. She coughed a few times as the smoke began to fill the room.

"Open up the windows!" Moynihan ordered, the smoke having reached her. She covered her mouth and coughed a few times.

Fiona, having pulled the collar of her shirt over her nose to protect herself from the smoke, dashed towards one of the windows and quickly pulled it open. Buzz did likewise, and rushed to another window and quickly pulled it up. A wind rushed into the room through the window Buzz had just opened up, and caused the smoke to head towards the window Fiona had opened. As the smoke exited the lighthouse and the air became cleaner, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Phew! That's better..." Buzz said.

Ms. Moynihan took in a deep breath. "Yes. But I fear that we aren't out of the woods yet."

"What makes you say that?" Buzz asked, his hand held out in a gesture of confusion. He felt Fiona poking him on the shoulder. As he turned to her, she quickly pointed a finger at the smoking computer. Smoke was still rising from it, and it didn't take a genius to realize there was a real fire danger. The sparks that were shooting out could easily catch the table, or the floor, on fire. "Oh, right." He said.

"We can't move it out now." Jack said, slowly shaking his head. "It's too hot. If we were to try to move it, we would burn our hands."

"But if we don't move it, Mr. Caruso," Moynihan said sternly, "that computer could catch the table on fire. Now you don't want that to happen, now do you?"

Max nodded, acknowledging Moynihan's words. But he knew Caruso's father had a point. How were they going to get this stuff outside without burning themselves, or accidentally dropping it to the floor and causing a fire? He wasn't sure how Moynihan expected them to pull off the task. Perhaps if they quickly got a fire extinguisher...no. That wouldn't do. The fire extinguishers were located on another floor. Suppose that he got them too late, and a fire started rage in the lighthouse? He could still put out the fire, but so much would be damaged. And with Moynihan still unable to walk on her own, he couldn't afford to let even a spark light up.

Joanne seemed to sense the dilemma, and spoke up. "Might I make a suggestion, Max?" The jock turned to her. "Why not use your T-Rex arms?" When he looked at her in confusion she smiled. "I thought you would get that reaction. Don't worry, it's safe."

"How do you know?" Jack asked, narrowing his eyes at the sparkling, destroyed computer. "Wouldn't he still burn his hands?"

"Yeah...reptiles are susceptible to fire, just like the rest of us." Rodger spoke up, though the sound of his voice suggested he was still not in a chipper mood. Then again, no one in the room was.

"Tyrannosaurs lived in extremely hot places." Moynihan explained to everyone. She attempted to sit up in the chair, and began to explain further. She mentally wished that she had mentioned this advantage earlier. "The regions they lived in were often hot and dry, and fires could start easily. To adapt to this, Tyrannosaurus Rex developed a strong hide, with scales that were far more resistant to fire than modern reptiles are now. It takes a lot more heat to burn a T-Rex."

She glanced around the room, looking at the expressions on everyone's faces as she was telling them this. They seemed rather surprised, just what she was expecting. The old woman wondered why she never mentioned this before. Maybe it was because it never crossed her mind. She never thought they would be in a situation like this, the possibility of a real fire.

"So...why haven't you told us this before?" Max asked, slowly narrowing his eyes at his mentor. Moynihan flinched very slightly at this. Max had never looked at her that way before. She could feel the guilt in her rising. "Were you just going to keep it a secret until a real fire started or something?" His voice was straining not to sound accusatory, but Max felt he had failed in doing so. He saw Moynihan bow her head, and not responding to his question. The jock let out a small sigh, starting to feel a bit guilty himself.

"Dude, don't be too hard on her." Buzz said to Max.

"I'm not..." Max said with a slight defiant tone in his voice. He quickly realized this, and let his arms fall to his sides. He turned to Ms. Moynihan. "I'm sorry if I sounded like I was accusing you, Ms. M." He didn't want to start another fight, like he had with Irwin Caruso. The jock walked up to Ms. Moynihan and stood a few inches in front of her. He gazed down at her, a softened expression on his face. He knew the old woman cared about them. He knew she wouldn't do anything if she thought it would get themselves in trouble. "I'm just..surprised you hadn't mentioned this ability beforehand."

"Oh it's quite alright, Maxwell." Joanne said as she slowly turned her head up to look at the young teen standing before her. She offered a small smile, an attempt to hide her true emotion inside. But her eyes gave that away. She was still feeling rather guilty, even though she knew she didn't have to feel that way. No one was really angry at her for not saying something earlier. No one was accusing her of hiding a vital secret. No one was calling her a traitor. Then again, why would anyone consider her a traitor? She had never done anything to warrant such a suspicion. She couldn't help but laugh to herself. "I hadn't said anything before because I did not think that there would ever come a time when that ability would have been needed."

"But what about what you taught us before?" Max asked her gently, trying his best not to make her feel any worse than she already felt. "To expect the unexpected?"

"So very true..." Moynihan spoke softly, closing her eyes. She had ignored her own advice. "I'm sorry, Max." How could she have forgotten about that lesson that she had taught them? How could she go against her own advice?

"Oh it's quite all right, ma'am." Max said. He gave a friendly smile. "It's nothing to worry about. I..."

"Umm..Max?" He turned around to face Fiona. Fiona was giving him a worried look. Her gloved hand was pointing in the direction of the computer. "I know you're busy having a heart-to-heart with Moynihan and all..but.." She glanced at the smoking electronic. "Could you please do something about that?" The smoking had started to increase for some reason, and the sparks were shooting out at a more rapid pace.

Max slapped himself in the face. "Oh! Right!" The jock rushed over, feeling a bit stupid of having forgotten about this situation. He held out his arms as they started to grow and bulge. Green, tough scales spread across his arm from fingertip to shoulder. The muscles flexed and grew in size and his fingers fused to form three muscular fingers with talons growing out of the end of each one. He hesitating, his hands hovering above the wreckage. Then he gripped the computer in his hands, flinching as he expected the searing pain to come with touching something very hot. But to his surprise, he felt almost nothing. Moynihan was right.

He quickly picked up the smoking computer and started to head towards the door to the garage. He couldn't just simply toss it out of a window. The delicate grass outside could easily catch on fire, and they could become trapped inside. The garage would be a safer place. The metal floor couldn't catch on fire, and there was plenty of space inside that was vacant, with nothing close enough for the sparks to reach. He lifted up his foot and tried to kick the door open, but realized the door was still locked. The jock groaned in frustration. How was he going to get through now?

He then got an idea. Very carefully, he lifted up one of his feet and tried to level it in front of the door knob. As he transformed his foot into that of a T-Rex, he felt himself start to lose his balance. Quickly, he brought out his T-Rex tail and held it straight out in an attempt to balance himself. He then pressed a talon against a button on the door, and he heard it unlock. He slowly closed his foot around the doorknob, and turned it. Slowly placing his foot on the ground, he pushed the door open and walked inside. When he reached a satisfactory location in the garage, he set the smoking computer back and headed back into the room where the others were waiting.

As he re-entered the room, he noticed that Rodger was sitting on the couch now, with Fiona sitting next to him. Her hand was on his back. His head was resting on the palm of his hands. He still looked down, and Max sighed softly. He didn't understand why Rodger was suddenly feeling guilty. It wasn't his fault the computer blew. Wasn't it Jack who was putting the monitor together? Wait, was Max putting the blame on Caruso's own father? He shook the thought quickly out of his head. If there's one thing they did not need right now, it was the blame game.

"Rodger, you shouldn't blame yourself." Fiona said, trying to cheer up the african-american. "You did your best. That's what counts."

"I know that...but still..." Rodger said, his voice trailing off.

"But nothing, Rodger." Max said as he headed towards the couch. "Why are you blaming yourself for this?"

"I'm sorry guys. I guess I...I just wish I hadn't lost that handheld tracker a couple days back. If we had that, we could find Caruso..." A few days ago, Rodger had been working on the tracker, upgrading its GPS and installing other things on it as well. But he had dropped it somewhere in the lighthouse and that's how it had gone missing in the first place. But it wasn't a high priority at the time, so no desperate effort was put into finding its location. "If only I knew where I dropped it..."

"Oh that wasn't your fault." Max said, giving him a friendly smile. "We were all really busy that day, remember? We had little time to pack up and go to another area where primordial ooze was spotted." It was true. That same day, there was not one, but two areas that Moynihan's tracking system had picked up, containing the glowing ooze that obviously belonged to Raptor Dyne. It had happened to suddenly that Rodger literally had to drop what he was doing and rush to join the others. His mind was so focused on the mission he had forgotten exactly where he was when he was working on the handheld tracker.

"Yeah...I know." Rodger said, starting to feel a little better now. "But I still wish we knew where that tracker was."

"We all do, Rodger." Fiona said with an understanding tone. "We all do..."

"Where am I?!" Caruso cried. He looked frantically around the room. It was a bit large, with a reddish hue, but was very dark. He could barely see the walls around him before walking smack into one. He reeled back, holding his nose in pain. He could not remember how he came to be in this darkened room. The last thing he could remember was falling asleep in his cell. When he woke up, he could no longer see any bars around him, but instead was enclosed in a good-sized room with no obvious way out.

The room was a bit chilly, but still warm enough that he didn't need a jacket on, not that he even had one to begin with. Some weird smell hung in the air. It wasn't a necessarily bad smell, but it was unfamiliar to him. And that unfamiliarity scared him a bit. What if it's some sort of poison gas that seeped into the room?

"Hello?!" He called out again but getting no response. "Hello?!" He could have sworn he heard his voice reverberating off the sides of the walls. That was his only answer back to his cries. Realizing that no one was going to answer him, Irwin felt his way to a wall and put his back to it. He slid down to the floor, crossing his legs and holding his arms tightly to his chest. He began reflecting on how it all led up to this. It had all started with Michelle...

He knew she was trouble from the start, but the others didn't listen to his warnings. He was hurt, still hurt now, that they didn't listen to him, and didn't take him seriously. His own friends just bypassed his warnings without a second thought. If they had listened to him, maybe, just maybe, this chain of events would never have happened. Maybe he wouldn't be in this mess right now.

But then, it wasn't Michelle that had caused him to go outside today. No, it was Max. The words he had spoken to him still stung, even after all these hours had gone by. He hadn't been able to speak to Max about it either. And Caruso began to wonder if he ever will get the chance again to speak to Max, or any of his friends for that matter. From the feel of the walls, he judged that he wouldn't be able to break through them even in Stegosaurus mode. The only way he could get out is if someone opened up the door. But who would be stupid enough to do that.

Well his captors of course. If they wanted, or intended to, keep him alive. They would have to come in and give him something to eat and drink. Yes, someone would open up the door soon, and then he could bolt out, and be free from this place.

Then another thought crossed his mind. Would he even know where to go? He had no idea where he was, or how far they traveled, or even how long they've been traveling. And he was sure Victor wasn't going to tell him. Perfect, just perfect, Caruso cursed to himself. Even if he could get out, without a cellphone, there was no way to contact any one, and Victor could always just recapture him and place him in an even more secure room. And perhaps the situation could get worse after that. Victor could do something far worse.

But then again, what could a coward do? Victor was not as actively engaged in his work as his own men were. Caruso did not consider Victor, himself, to be much of a threat. How could he be? Caruso himself had never witnessed Victor transforming even once. He had heard from Buzz that Victor did transform when he was trying to box him into a corner, but that was only one time. In all their missions, Victor normally stayed on the sidelines, rarely getting up out of his seat to investigate anything. He certainly didn't go out of his way to track him and his friends down. He did not attempt to pursue them all the way to the lighthouse and nab one of them.

That is, until today...

"Why hello there." He heard a voice and turned around. A sliding door, opening up from the middle, slid open, and a tall, slender figure stepped into the room. Caruso squinted, trying to get a good look at the figure. It was hard to tell who it was in the darkness. Then the figure held up a hand, and pushed on something on the wall. Within seconds, a single row of fluorescent lights flickered on, illuminating the room. The light quickly enveloped the figure and revealed their identity. It was Victor! "Sleep well, I presume?"

Caruso quickly stood up and prepared to fight. "I told you I was going to show you how weak we humans are!" He declared before charging towards Victor. But he hardly took a few steps before something slammed into him. It looked like a blue energy with white streaks. It didn't cause much pain, but it did slam him against the wall he had been leaning on before. He felt himself falling to the ground with a loud thud. He looked up and saw Victor held some kind of weapon in his hands.

The weapon had the general appearance of the Chiller and Spiller. But this thing had a reddish coloration to it with black stripes. The gun itself had a more raptor-like appearance to it than the Chiller and Spiller. It appeared to fire a streak of blue and white energy at a low frequency and intensity. It didn't seemed to be designed to be a lethal weapon, and it didn't look effective enough for combat. Caruso wondered why Victor would have such a weak weapon in his possession.

"You like it?" Victor asked, smirking. He held up the weapon closer to himself as though he were going to examine it closer. "It's called the Killer, or at least it's going to be once all the kinks are worked out of it." He chuckled as he put the weapon away. "Consider yourself lucky I didn't test the completed model on you, hairless monkey."

"How is that thing going to kill anyone?" Caruso asked, ignoring his initial fear of what Veloci said seconds ago. "It didn't even cause much pain, let alone much damage."

"Excellent question, mammal." The Velociraptor-in-disguise proceeded in explaining why the weapon was going to be lethal once it was completed. "The Killer spews out a bluish white energy, as you have seen. It goes straight through the body of any living organism, passing through all cells. Once it is completed, the energy will disrupt cells and cause them to simply self destruct. And if aimed at the heart or brain, an instant kill."

Caruso winced, glancing nervously back at his chest, where the beam had previously struck him. He shuddered at the thought of seeing himself falling flat on the ground, lifeless, and having his friends finding him like that. "Oh man..." He managed to say involuntarily.

Victor heard this, and chuckled. "I knew you'd like it, boy..."

Caruso managed to put the fear of dying aside and glared at Victor. "Where am I...?"

"What does it matter? It's not like you are going to be leaving anytime soon." Victor noted as he turned back to the door. He was about to press the button, but stopped, his finger hovering inches in front of the switch. He thought about Caruso's question for a moment, and began to wonder if it really mattered if he told the boy or not. It wasn't like he was going anywhere anytime soon. "Well if you really must know, you're in a secured room in a warehouse close to Raptor Dyne." He pressed his finger against the button, but not enough to open up the sliding doors. "I have many untested, unfinished, and unsuccessful weapons stored here. Many from years ago. Some more recent."

Caruso looked around his room. The reddish color had come from the color of the walls themselves. They were coated in a red paint. But given the right light, it looked a lot more like...blood. "And you brought me here because..?"

Victor grinned. "Because, boy, you are going to help me..test out these weapons."

Caruso's eyes widened slightly as he realized what this had meant. Victor was going to use him as a guinea pig for his experiments! Victor couldn't possibly be expecting him to just sit still during all this, does he? He narrowed his eyes and took a few confident steps towards Victor. His eyes started to glow as if inviting him to a challenge. "And what makes you think I am going to cooperate? Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just transform now and run you down like the coward you are?!" He snapped.

"Oh don't you worry, Little Caruso." Victor smirked evilly. "I know how to break you humans..."

Caruso flinched at the pet name Victor had just given him. But he still stood his ground, his feet planted firmly on the floor. He wasn't going to submit to Victor without a fight. And he was sure Victor knew that as well. "I am not afraid of you!" He declared in a brave tone of voice. "And I have no reason to be. After all, you are just a coward that hides behind a hundred men! Men..the very thing you hate so much. How pathetic..."

Victor's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Who do you think you're talking to?"

"I think I'm talking to a coward." Caruso jeered mockingly. "Someone who isn't dark enough to do his own dirty deeds! Someone who is so oblivious that he wouldn't be able to recognize a perfect dinosaur if it came and bit him on the nose!"

Victor's lips curled back in a snarl. Had he been a raptor when he did this, it would have appeared deathly threatening. "You have no idea what you are going to get yourself into, do you, Caruso?"

"Oh I know what I'm getting myself into." Caruso said, rolling his eyes. "And frankly, it doesn't scare me one bit. I know my friends will find me soon. They will bust me out of here. And they will chase your sorry tail to a land far, far away. And with your puny dinosaur brain, you probably wouldn't even be able to figure out a means of escape if it was staring at you right under your nose!"

"Oh my." Victor said, letting his anger slowly melt into a humored tone of voice. "Well I better not let happen, shall I?" It was a rhetorical question. He did not expect Caruso to answer him. But knowing the small child before him, he'd probably answer anyway. The youngster probably never learned what a rhetorical question was.

"Yes." Caruso answered him, his hands on his hips in proud defiance. "You should be careful, yellow belly."

Victor, who had his back turned to the boy, felt his eyes beginning to glow. But a quick shake of the head and they were back to normal. He chortled at the boy's comment, and simply ignored him. He pushed the button that opened up the door, and stepped out. Caruso, taking this opportunity to try to escape, made a mad dash to the door. His captor turned to face him, and lifted his arm, probably to press another button. Caruso tensed the muscles in his legs and lunged into the air, his arms outstretched. It was like he was playing football, and the door was the goalie. If he had timed his jump perfectly, he could just make it through the door, just maybe...

SLAM!

Caruso smacked right into the door. It had just shut, only a second before he had reached it. He was so close. He slid back onto the ground, held his hands to his face in pain. "Ow..." He would probably get a black eye from this. He gingerly rubbed his face and picked himself off the ground. He glared at the door, searching around it to find the button. Victor had pressed something to open it up, didn't he? He looked around the outer frame of the door, easily seen by the yellowish outline with black bars striping across it.

He finally spotted something that looked promising. It was in the shape of an outlet box, or a fuse box, like the kind he would see in his own house. This one was rather small, only about the size of a book. It had a metallic shine to it, and it was hinged by a few screws to the wall. But when he took a closer look, he could see that the box does open up. He could see a small opening, where he believed he put his finger and pry it open.

"Well well..." Caruso said in his usual cocky voice. "Looks like I'll be getting out of here sooner than I thought." He placed his hand on the box, curving his fingers over it. He placed his pointer finger in the hole, and then began to pull. The box seemed closed tightly. He pulled harder on it, gritting his teeth against the strain. But the little door wasn't budging. He gave one final tug, but his fingers slipped across the metal, and off the object, causing him to topple backward. His pointer had gotten caught on something, and scraped across the bottom.

"Ow!" Caruso cried, bringing his finger to his chest and looked at it. He could see the whitish streak typical of a scrape, and a few reddish spots. But he saw no steady flow of blood. He carefully flexed the finger to make sure it was all right. It hurt a little to move, but he was all right.

He glanced back at the door, confused as to why he couldn't open it up. "I don't get it.. Victor was able to do it. I mean so what if he's bigger and stronger..." He took a closer look at the box. He still couldn't find anything different about it, nothing that really caught his attention. The only thing he can think of is that the door locks from the inside. Victor hadn't left the door open up during his little visit, so how could he have gotten out? Only one thing could make sense: Victor had a switch on the outside that locked the door opener on his side.

"Figures..." Irwin muttered to himself. "Looks like I spoke too soon."

He put his back to the wall and supported his weight on one foot while he lifted the other and crossed it over his other leg. His arms folded, he frowned and closed his eyes, trying to think of what he should do. "Come on..think Caruso...Think! There's gotta be a way out of here..." Then inspiration struck him. "I know! I'll just go dino and nail him!"

No sooner had he said this did the door open up again. He snapped his head up, his eyes wide open, as the door slide open from the middle once more. Victor came inside, holding a handful of different gadgets in his hands. They all seemed to have been modeled after the carnivorous heads of different dinosaur species. But one in particular stood out among all the others. As Victor set the weapons on the ground, this one particular weapon remained in his hands. Two long daggers jetted out from one end, going down the sides of the musket. It lacked a reptilian look. Instead it looked more reminiscent of a mammal. The place where the nose would be was the opening where the energy or whatever would be shot out.

Victor held the weapon up, leveling it perfectly with Caruso. Caruso gulped quietly, and tried to step back, only to realize he was already up against the wall. He clenched his teeth as he prepared for the blow. Despite the size of the room, Victor had already got a lock on him, and his finger was on the trigger. He wouldn't be able to get out of the way even if he tried.


	5. Tortured

"This, my little hairless ape," Victor explained, his finger straining against the trigger, "is the Stinger. So appropriately named too.. you see, it will shoot out bolts of electricity at you. And don't even think about dodging this one. The bolts hone in on your body heat..." He pushed against the trigger and there was a clicking sound.

A crackling sound followed, and a stream of yellow flashing energy, in the form of two beam-like bullets, shot outward and towards Caruso. Letting out a scream of surprise, Caruso jumped out of the way. The bullet streams bypassed the wall and made a sharp turn in his direction again. He made another dash as the bullets came nearer, but in each attempt, the bullets would change direction, attracted by his heat signature. Caruso kept on dodging, but it only seemed like the bullets were getting closer. Eventually he almost ran into Victor. He gasped when he realized this, and skidded to a stop only a few inches in front of him. Victor looked down at him, sneering.

"Are you having fun, Caruso?" Victor taunted, brandishing the weapon in his hand.

Caruso didn't answer, instead pausing to think of a solution. There was something that crossed his mind, something that could help him get out. Victor had forgotten to close the door this time around. He could try to run behind him, but then Victor would catch him rather quickly, being a Velociraptor and all. And he could just fire his weapon at him again, sending more bolts heading his direction.

The bolts! That was it! He would trick the bullets of energy to hit Victor instead of him. It was a risk, but he couldn't think of anything else. He turned to quickly glance behind him. The bullets were still heading his way. They would reach him in seconds. In his mind, he began to recall Ms. Moynihan's lesson, the way she tricked him into going too close to the volcano.

He glanced up at Victor, and smirked back at him. "Oh yes..I'm having fun... And so will you."

"Hmm...? What?" Victor's expression turned to that of bewilderment. "What are you...?"

Before Victor could finish his question, Caruso suddenly dodged to the side. Victor turned quickly to grab the teen before he ran out of the open door. But he suddenly screamed in pain. A sharp blow struck him from the side. He realized quickly what had happened. The boy used the homing shots to his advantage, and tricked them into striking him instead. The electricity coursed through his body, causing Victor to let go of the gun. It clanked as it hit the ground.

"D-Darn..!" Veloci cursed as he fell onto his knees, clenching his teeth against the pain. He looked up to see Caruso running out of the door. Victor's eyes glowed fiercely, his teeth sharpening as he emitted a raptor-like growl. Fighting against the pain, he reached in his pocket and pulled out his communicator. He pressed a button and hissed into it, "The prisoner has e-escaped! Don't let him get out of the building!"

The ground of the Earth shook heavily as a massive leg slammed down onto it. Cars skidded to a stop. People scrambled to get out of the way as a lumbering giant stomped in their direction. Cracks and holes were created each time the gray legs came down. The road nearly split in half. Signs and street lights were smashed. Abandoned cars were demolished. Smoke billowed out among the wreckage. Some people lined the side of the road, holding out their cellphones to record the monstrous creature as he strode past them.

The creature let out a bellow, as though announcing his arrival. The creature had a set of glowing eyes on top of his enormous neck. It was Peter, still making his way back towards the lighthouse. Raising his neck a bit higher, he could see it off in the distance. He was getting close now. If he could break into a run, he could get there a lot faster. But a creature this size may not be able to harness the energy to make such an effort. Still, it couldn't hurt to try.

He stopped suddenly, his tail lashing from side to side. He turned to look at the people gathered around him. His eyes widened a bit as he realized that a few people were snapping photos of him, or recording live video. He narrowed his eyes, obviously not liking all this attention. He turned his long neck towards the lighthouse in the distance once more. He could just try to run over there, as quickly as he could. But how was he going to lose all these people? They were, no doubt, going to try to follow him. He would have to discourage them, somehow. He glanced back down at him, and a series of flashes nearly blinded his eyes.

He reared his head back and let out a loud bellow that shook the ground. People on the ground wobbled and some lost their balance and fell backwards. Peter roared again, lifting up a massive leg and stomping downward. He didn't aim directly at anyone, instead slamming his foot only a few feet away from them. The fake attack worked on some of the people, who rushed back to their cars to drive away. He quickly turned around and reared on his hind legs. Letting out a third roar, he slammed heavily into the ground, channeling his body weight on one section of the road. The force was enough to crack the concrete, splitting it wide open. The cars nearby were knocked away, and any people too close dashed away in time, screaming in horror.

A bright flash caught his attention. The enormous dinosaur turned in the direction of what appeared to be a young boy holding up a rather large camera. The flash had come from the camera as the kid snapped a picture of the large dinosaur. Peter narrowed his eyes, obviously not pleased with the little kid. He turned his massive body around and stomped heavily, slowly, towards the little boy. His long neck lowered until the tip of his snout was almost right up against the boy's head. As the boy took a step back and Peter got a good look at him, it was revealed this boy was a teenager. He was pretty fat, had very short hair, and a red sweatshirt. Peter snorted, causing the boy to take another step back.

Then the feeling of something tiny slamming against his back leg caught Peter's attention. He turned his head to the side, and spotted a man, looking to be in his mid-50's, balding in a brown corporate suit, throwing a few rocks at him to get his attention. The man threw another rock, and the dinosaur roared in response.

"Keep away from my son, you monster!" The man yelled defiantly, not budging even as the sauropod was turning around to face him. The man glanced quickly at the teenager, and called to him. "Run, son! Run!"

"But..what about..." The large kid asked, his eyes planted nervously on the enormous animal.

"Just go! I'll be fine!" As he said this, Peter had his snout inches away from his face. His jaws were slightly open, exposing the rows of peg-like teeth. They weren't the teeth of a carnivore, but they could still do some serious damage.

Hesitating for a moment, and then, reluctantly, the teen took off, disappearing in beyond the line of foliage that was on either side of the road. He ducked down, peering through the thick bushes, praying his father would make it out all right. The gigantic animal opened his large jaws, a long tongue hanging out from the side, and bellowed once again. But the man remained perfectly still, staring at the creature straight in the eyes. He was not going to be easily subdued, Peter could see. He hesitated with his next movement, unsure of what to do next. He didn't really plan on actually hurting anyone. He thought his size alone would be enough to deter anyone from getting too close to him or following him.

But here was a man, obviously overcoming his fear to save his son, standing in defiance even though the sauropod could easily crush him. Peter was growing frustrated, and it showed as his eyes' glow intensity increased. He lifted his foot and stomped it thunderously on the ground, the aftershock being enough to knock the man down. The boy watched in horror as the creature shot forward with his head, looking as though they were going to clamp down on his father. He closed his eyes tightly and waited for the scream of death. But it never came.

The kid opened up his eyes once more, and could see that his father had dodged the attack, now rolling across the floor a few feet from the creature. Peter shook his head violently, rocks falling from his jaws. He had bitten a loose piece of concrete. The horrible taste hung in his mouth, and he quickly hacked it back up. Drool dripped from his jaws, wetting the ground in a disgusting manner, and his tongue hung further to the side, allowing more spit to drip down.

The man took this opportunity to pull out his gun. Despite his corporate uniform, he was actually a police officer, and always carried out his trusty pistol. He hadn't pulled it out earlier because he was afraid he might accidentally hit his son. But now that his son was nowhere in sight, he had pulled out his pistol. He leveled it up towards the monstrous reptile, sighting along it to get a good angle. His finger pushed against the trigger, and there was a loud bang, and the scent of smoke. A split second later, the sauropod roared in pain. A small but noticeable wound appeared on one of his thick strong legs. Blood started to ooze from it. But due to its large size, this did not cause any serious damage.

As the sauropod turned to face him once more, the man struggled to reload his gun. He had fired the last bullet that was already in the gun. Now he must quickly put in a new bullet before the creature was upon him. But the Apatosaurus moved faster than he had anticipated. Before he had time to fire the next bullet, the Apatosaurus's head, with his neck acting like a whip, smashed into him, knocking him on the ground.

"DAD!" The boy screamed, forgetting that he was supposed to be hiding. Lucky for him, the dinosaur did not seem to hear him. His attention was focused on the cop on the ground.

The man struggled to his feet, his legs a bit shaky, and stared up at the animal. Peter's eyes were narrowed dangerously, and the reptilian lips were pulled up to reveal his teeth. He snapped them down a few times, a clear warning that he was not happy and if provoked further he would bite. The man still stood his ground, his finger once again on the trigger. He knew his chances of getting a shot now, with the animal upon him, were slim to none. Any second, the sauropod could lift his massive leg and stomp him into the road, leaving not much behind.

Peter snorted as the man did not make another move. Feeling satisfied that he had finally subdued him, Peter turned back in the direction of the lighthouse and began to slowly walk away. The man glared as the monster started to walk away and, without thinking, he held up his pistol once more, and fired another shot.

A stinging pain in the thigh of the same leg made Peter stop in his tracks. His eyes were shut tightly. No, this was not the worst pain he had felt, or could feel. But it was still bothersome. It was like a splinter had gotten lodged in his leg. He could feel his warm blood dripping down, now from two points in his leg. He turned his head to stare at the man, infuriated that he had dare shoot him again, even after the head butt and the threat of biting him. But he didn't have time to stay around for much longer. Instead of turning around and biting the man, Peter lifted his long tail a bit higher in the air, and struck down quickly.

The tail caught the man in the side, knocking him clean off the road several feet, flying passed where his son was hiding, and slammed against a thick tree truck. Peter snorted angrily, but continued on his quest. These darn humans had delayed him long enough. He could not spend anymore time standing here, trying to scare them off. He couldn't waste more precious seconds knocking away pesky humans. His destination wasn't far ahead. And once he got there, it should not be too hard to destroy the lighthouse. It would not take much effort for an Apatosaurus like himself. His only concern was that the Dino Squad would be able to defeat him. But how could they, when he was so much bigger? This was going to be a piece of cake.

"Dad!" The young boy rushed to his father's side. "Are you all right?!" He grabbed his father's arm in an attempt to help him up.

"I'm all right. Just a little bruised that's all." He responded, struggling to his feet. He didn't look too worse for wear. A bit scratched up, a bruise or two, and a bit dirty, but otherwise fine. As he started to put some weight on his legs, he hung onto his son for a bit of support as he tried to keep himself from falling down again. He wobbled a little, but remained standing. "You can let go of me now."

As the boy nervously released his father, the cop stammered forward a bit, and nearly fell down again. But he quickly caught himself, remaining perfectly balanced on his two legs. That was a good sign. He didn't appear to have any broken bones. He slowly walked back to the road to watch the dinosaur walking off. He felt angry that he wasn't able to kill the beast. He had only angered him, and put himself and possibly everyone else who was on the road at risk. But at least the creature was now wounded, and would probably eventually get some sort of infection, which would slow him down and make him easier to terminate. "At least we are out of danger, for now."

The fat boy glanced nervously to where the creature was walking off to. "I sure hope so..." He said softly, wiping his forehead. As he watched the creature walking off, a realization slowly came over him. He looked around the road, and the direction the dinosaur was walking off to. He realized that the dinosaur was walking straight toward the lighthouse. The boy could not see the lighthouse from where he was, but he knew this road would lead straight over there. The boy had little concern over the lighthouse itself. He never visited it before, and didn't really have any plans.

But there was someone he knew that was probably in that location right now. And while they were not too good of friends, he wasn't going to just let this guy get killed by this monster of a dinosaur. He quickly pulled out his cellphone, and began to dial a number. As he held the phone to his hear, and he could hear the ringing sound, he said to himself, "I hope he answers."

Back at the lighthouse, Buzz was laying on the couch with Rump laying next to him. The others were at the table, either in a chair or standing nearby. He couldn't hear what they were talking about because he was lost in his own thoughts. He was at just as much of a loss of what to do as everyone else here was. He was starting to feel a little depressed that the computer, their only chance of finding Caruso, blew, and he was feeling frustrated that the handheld tracker was still lost. If only they could find that tracker, then they would be able to find Caruso. Why couldn't they find it? Why had they not found it yet...?

"Hey Buzz." He heard a voice say. He opened up his eyes and glanced up. Standing next to him was Max. The jock had left the group and came over to talk to him. Buzz didn't respond right away, giving the teen a soft glare before looking away. Max sighed, shaking his head. This reminded him of how things used to be, before they had their dinosaur powers. Buzz had never seemed to like him much. He seemed to have something against athletics, and against being in a team in general. Buzz had always been the lone wolf kind of person, and continued to express that even today.

Buzz had started to grow more tolerate of his presence since they became a team. It took some time, but Buzz eventually regarded Max as a friend, especially after the way Max had stuck up for him when McFinn used to bully him. Buzz had regretted how he treated the jock, although he never truly apologized for it. Max had never asked for an apology, and he never expected one. After all, it was all in the past, and was not of concern any longer.

But today, Buzz had started to distance himself from Max a bit, for an obvious reason. Buzz was still a little upset with the way the jock had treated Caruso earlier in the day. He had nearly become a bully himself, insulting Caruso without a second thought. He had wondered if that act had effected the outcome of the situation. But even though he was upset with Max, he couldn't possibly blame him for Caruso's capture. How could he anyway? Max tried just hard as the rest of them, even harder, to save Caruso. He had tried to run after the truck to get Caruso back, but unfortunately failed.

Buzz finally looked back at Max after about a minute of silence. He sighed and asked, "Hi, Max..what do you want?" He tried not to sound bitter, but felt he failed in doing that because he saw Max wince a little at the tone of his voice. "Sorry." He quickly apologized. "I just not feeling myself right now." The recent events were starting to wear him down now. He almost laughed to himself at the irony of him wanting to watch TV, just like Max before Caruso's capture.

"I'm sorry you're not feeling well." Max said, reaching down to pet Rump. "We're all going through a tough time now."

"Especially Caruso." Buzz added in sharply, eyes narrowed. "Who knows what Victor might be doing to him right now..."

"Now now..let's not get carried away..." Max started to say.

But Buzz cut him off. "What do you mean? You heard what Ms. Moynihan had told us. Victor would use us as lab rats if he ever caught us! He probably has wires hooked up to Caruso, and..."

Max tightly gripped Buzz's shoulders and shook him a little. "Settle down, Buzz! If there's one thing we know about Victor, he would deem Caruso too valuable to just kill off! He'll survive, and we'll find him!"

Just as Buzz opened his mouth to offer a response of his own, he felt his cellphone vibrating in his pocket. He had turned off the ringer, but kept on the vibrator. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the cellphone, quickly opening it up and holding it up to his ear. He hesitated briefly, realizing he hadn't bothered to check to see who it was. He said, "Hello...?" He heard an enthusiastic yet frightened voice answer him from the other side. "McFinn? What do you want?"

"McFinn...?" Max pondered. "I wonder why he is calling."

"What?!" Buzz cried, sitting up so quickly he nearly knocked Rump off the couch. "Are you absolutely sure of that?!" He could hear McFinn's voice on the other side chatter away frantically, and as he revealed more information, Buzz's eyes widened more. "Okay, thanks for the warning!" He quickly said. "I'll get out! Bye!" He quickly shut the phone before McFinn could respond. He knew it was rude, but he couldn't waste anytime in warning the others of this oncoming threat.

"What is it Buzz?" Max asked, sounding very concerned. "What did McFinn want?"

"He says there's a giant gray dinosaur heading straight for the lighthouse!" Buzz cried before jumping off the couch and rushing to where the others were to warn them.

"What?!" Max gasped as he ran to catch up to Buzz.

McFinn shut his phone and shoved it in his pocket. While he understood that Buzz was probably in a hurry to get out when he learned of the dinosaur coming in his direction, but he could have at least stayed on long enough for him to say goodbye. What nerve, just hanging up on him like that. But McFinn couldn't dwell on that matter now. He turned to his father. His father was surveying the road, probably making sure the creature was not coming back.

"So what do we do now, dad?" McFinn asked, glancing nervously at the sauropod, who was still in view.

"We have to get back to our car and get out of here." His dad responded, heading for the road again.

"But what if that monster turns around and attacks you again?" McFinn asked, nervous.

"Oh don't worry, son. I don't think he'll notice us getting in the car." He said with confidence.

"I hope you're right..." It wasn't like McFinn to doubt his own father. His father was rather intelligent, and almost always knew what to do when danger strikes. But this situation was unlike any they have ever encountered before. His father couldn't possibly know how this dinosaur would react. He couldn't possibly believe the dinosaur would ignore them. As soon as they stepped on the road, the dinosaur could turn around and attack them, or even eat them. He wasn't even sure if their car could move faster than the dinosaur could run.

But he didn't protest. As his father stepped onto the road, he followed in pursuit, cautiously placing his foot on the broken concrete. There was still enough road to ride along to get away, but it would going to be touch. As McFinn and his father made their way towards the car, they could feel the ground shaking as the beast lumbered away.

"Oh man..how much does that thing weight?" McFinn thought out loud.

"I'd say over a ton at least..no a lot more.." His father said, trying to keep his balance long enough to reach the car. Their car was parked on the side of the road, and stood out among the other cars because it was a pitch black with red tiger stripes on it. The man placed his hands on the front of the car for balance. He made his way to the driver's side, and gripped the door handle and pulled on it. The door opened up, and he got inside the car slowly. He carefully shut it, and motioned for his son to follow.

McFinn went over to the passenger's side, and climbed in, although not as quietly as his father did. But the dinosaur didn't seem to notice them, and McFinn shut the door quickly. His father turned the key in the ignition, and they sped off in the opposite direction of the dinosaur, careful to avoid anyone still on the road.

The interior of the warehouse was glowing a bright red as an alarm was sounding off from all over the building. Caruso ran along a corridor, unsure of what was ahead. But he knew he had to get out of here. He would eventually find the exit. That was all that was on his mind now. Getting out and getting back to the lighthouse was all he was concerned about. He had forgotten to take into account that not only was he close to Raptor Dyne but that the warehouse was crawling with Veloci's men. He hadn't run into any yet, as luck seemed to be on his side for the moment.

He reached the end of the corridor, where he could see a bright light shining through. It wasn't red like the alarm lights were. It was a whitish color. Cautiously, he stepped through. He had stepped into the largest room of the warehouse. Caruso stifled a gasp as he looked around. The room was enormous, looking to be around twice the size of a football field. Scattered along the room were rows and rows of stands made of wood. Stocked all along them were weapons of many different types.

Another part of the room had a row of large cages, many big enough to hold a dinosaur as big as a Stegosaurus. Next to the cages were gigantic chains and thick locks that looked strong enough to hold even an Apatosaurus in one of those cages. A few of the cages looked as though they were made of chicken wire. Caruso winced as he looked at the viciously hooked wires. They were probably designed to hold smaller dinosaurs. Surely these wires couldn't effect a Stegosaurus like himself.

And still in another part of the room, he could see multiple cylinder-shaped tanks filled with bubbling fluid. Several wires were attached to them, either pumping in something or sucking away something. Caruso couldn't tell from where he was at. But from what he could see, these tanks were far from empty. Inside he could see something floating inside each of them. He knew he should be running. It would only be a matter of time before someone would find him in here. But the sight of these strange things in the tanks caught his attention, and he felt like he just had to know what was inside them. Throwing caution to the wind, Caruso slowly approached the tanks. They weren't far from where he was, and he reached them within a minute.

The cylinders were much larger than he previously thought. They towered over him, at least 8 ft tall they were. Now he could see clearly just what was inside the tanks. They were some of Veloci's failed experimental mutations. They all had a dinosaurian look to them, but they didn't look like any dinosaur he has heard of before. One of the creatures had a frill but no horns and an elongated neck with sharp claws and spikes along the back. Another creature had a long beak and wings but no wing membrane. A third creature had a Tyrannosaurus-like head but the body was more close to that of a Triceratops. And still another creature had a head that reminded Caruso of a crocodile, and its back was covered in Stegosaurus spinal plates, but the tail sported a club. Even though Caruso knew not much of dinosaurs, just by looking at these creatures he knew they weren't natural.

"Man..Veloci needs a lesson in cloning, big time." Irwin muttered to himself. As he said this, he continued through the room to find another exit. He walked along the side of the room, looking left to right to find another door. As he did so, he passed along the shelves covered with weapons. As he got a good look at them, he shuddered at their sight. They all looked so vicious and dangerous. He didn't know what they were capable of, or even if they worked. But he did not want to stick around long enough to find out the answer to that question.

As he passed the weapons section, moving passed the cages as well, and was now at the far side of the room, a cold realization came over him. There was no other door! This was a one-way-in kind of room. The only exit was the same place he had come in from! Caruso felt like slapping himself in the face for this mistake. He could only hope they hadn't checked down this corridor just yet. He made his way back to the door, and raised his hand to it. He gripped it and slowly opened it up and stepped out of the room and back in the corridor. As he started to make his way down, he suddenly spotted a figure standing not far from him. He didn't need much time to realize who was in front of him.

"Oh no.." Caruso whispered before quickly turning around, but not before he heard a shout from behind him.

"THERE YOU ARE!" Shouted the figure from behind. "STOP!"

Caruso winced at the sound of Victor's voice. Victor must have tracked him down by scent. Caruso was starting to feel a bit foolish. How could he have forgotten about Veloci's raptor sense of smell? Surely a raptor's sense of smell was extremely keen, like a wolf's or bear's. Even if he had gotten out of the building, Victor could have still tracked him down. The blue-haired kid felt a painful pang in his stomach as he realized his escape would have been in vain without a means of traveling much faster. There was no way he could ever outrun a Velociraptor.

Caruso quickly ran back into the room and slammed the door shut. He glanced around the room desperately, looking for a place he could hide. He saw that there appeared to be some room behind the cylinder tanks. Not much, but maybe enough for him to squeeze through. He glanced nervously at the door, and then bolted for the tanks. He went between two of them and squeezed through. He pressed himself against the wall behind one of the tanks, and prayed that Victor would not be able to find him. The tanks gave off a weird smell. He hoped that this would deter Victor from looking over here by masking his own human scent.

Just as Caruso settled down snugly behind the large containers, there was a loud crashing sound. He peered over cautiously and saw the door had been slammed open. Stepping into the room now was a red Velociraptor. Victor slowly walked forward, shifting his head from left to right, trying to figure out which way to go first. He lifted his head upwards, and took in a couple sniffs. He snorted as he caught Caruso's scent, and took a few steps forward. He sniffed a few more times, and turned in the direction of the weapons. Caruso nearly sighed in relief.

Victor came up to the shelves, and lowered himself to the floor, and placed his head as close to the ground as possible. His golden eye searched the floor for any signs of a human foot, but he saw nothing. He lifted himself back up and turned around. It was clear Caruso was not over here.

'Where are you Caruso?' Victor called out in his thoughts. He was certain Caruso would hear them, even if he didn't know where the boy was. 'I know you were in here... I can SMELL you..'

Caruso flinched at that remark, but he kept himself quiet and calm. He wondered if Velociraptors were like dogs. Maybe they could smell fear. If he let himself become frightened, Victor would, in theory, detect him faster. Caruso could not simply squeeze through the containers and make a run for it. Victor would most likely spot him and chase him down, or hear him or smell him. For now, the containers hid his scent from this location. But it wouldn't be long before Victor would grow wise to this and come to the fluid-filled tanks.

Victor walked along the side of the room that contained the cages. This was a bit further from where Caruso was, but closer than the weapons. It was on the wall right next to where he was hiding. Caruso knelt down a tad further and watched as Victor came up to the cages, obviously catching a whiff of him. Victor tilted his head to one side then the other in a bird-like manner.

'Come out come out where ever you are...' Victor cooed as he gazed between the spaces of the cages. Victor could see clearly there was no one there, and let out a dinosaur sigh of frustration. He pointed his snout in the air again, taking a few more sniffs before walking towards the tanks.

Caruso pressed his back against the wall as the Velociraptor drew closer and closer to where he was hiding. Victor stopped in front of the containers, and tried to get Caruso's scent. He snorted. It was obvious that the strong smell of the tanks were masking Caruso's scent, if it was even here at all. He stepped a few paces back, and overlooked the cylinders filled with liquid. He turned his head from one side, and then to the other, like he was trying to analyze whether or not Caruso could be hiding here. Caruso held his breath, and hoped Victor would bypass him. His lungs started to ache, but he refused to take a breath until Victor passed.

However, Victor did not move from the spot. He continued to stare and ponder. He lowered his body down and crept forward slowly, like a predator that was stalking its prey. His body was low to the ground, his nose pressed up against the floor. As he sniffed, the raptor caught the slightest scent of human, and his tail raised in alertness. He sniffed harder, and began to follow the faint trail.

Caruso stifled a gasp. From the look of things, it seems Victor had caught his scent. Victor must have realized that if he couldn't get his scent from the air, he might be able to get the scent from the ground. The strong smell of the containers hadn't had as much effect on the ground as it did in the air. Victor probably caught the scent of his socks or shoes. There was no way Caruso could run away now. If he were to budge from the spot, even just a little, Victor might hear him and lunge in to grab him. If he tried to stand up, Victor would spot him for sure. He braced himself, hoping to be able to fight off Victor if he had to.

The trail led Victor to a space between two large fluid-filled containers. He raised his body back off the ground, his eyes narrowed slightly. The space was rather small, he thought. Could Caruso have possibly fit through there. But when he thought about it, it did seem to make sense. Caruso was thin enough to fit through the space. The shadows were probably concealing the boy, or he was hiding directly behind one of the cylinders. Victor took a step closer and began to sniff around. He pressed the side of his face against a container, growling softly as he tried to locate Caruso.

As he tried to squeeze in further, he realized his body was a bit too wide to fit through. He would have an easier time in human form. While wider from the side, his human body was also thin enough to fit through. In a flash of blue light, Victor returned to his human form, and approached the space between the cylinders yet again.

"There's no other place you can be, boy." Victor said as he pressed his hands against the sides of the containers and leaned in a little. He knew that if Caruso was here, he was not just going to come on out. But maybe he could encourage the boy a little. "Why don't you make it easy on yourself and come on out? Or do I have to drag you out myself?"

Obviously there was no answer. Victor smirked slightly. Caruso was probably trying to make him believe that no one was there. But Victor knew better. He squeezed himself through the opening, edging closer and closer. He heard a slight shuffle, and quickened his pace towards the source of that sound. As he edged closer, he could see a figure in the shadows, and grinned. He did not need to see a clear shot to know who this was. There was only one prisoner in the warehouse, only one person who would have any reason to hide from him like this.

As Victor peered behind and became face to face with the boy, Caruso gasped. He had been spotted, and now cornered up against the wall. He bared his teeth, and formed fists with his hands in cheap attempt to warn Victor off. But Victor could tell the boy was in no position to fight, and he could see Caruso was struggling to keep himself as far away from him as possible. But he couldn't back away any further. And he could not squeeze behind the other containers fast enough. He could only watch as Victor got closer to him, and reached out with his red-sleeved arm, hands open.

"You thought you could get away from me, did you?" Victor asked, smiling. "Well you thought wrong kid. You thought wrong..." Without hesitation, he reached forward swiftly and grabbed Caruso by the collar of his shirt, and started to yank forward.

"Let me go!" Caruso snapped, grabbing Victor's hand and trying in vain to pry it off. He tried to plant his feet on the ground and tried to pull himself back, but it was in vain. Victor's stronger body was able to pull him further forward than Caruso could pull himself backward. His feet skidded slowly but steadily across the floor, getting closer and closer to the front. He continued to struggle to push Victor's hand off of him, but the raptor wasn't about to let go. He could see Victor was very close to the opening of the space, and it would only be a matter of time before he was completely out, and then he would follow soon afterward. Baring his teeth once more, Caruso did the only thing he could think of doing in a small space, faced with this situation. "I said let me go!" With that, he suddenly clamped his teeth on Victor's hand, something that Victor did not see coming.

"AAARRGHH!" Veloci cried as he felt Caruso's jaws try to drive the blunt teeth into his hand. While human teeth were not generally as sharp or as dangerous as a raptor's, their molars were designed for crushing and Caruso had clamped onto a finger, where the bone was close to the skin. Caruso continued to clench his jaws tighter. His teeth wasn't cutting the skin, but they were causing considerable pain. Victor was not letting go, but his grip loosened up a little.

"Stop biting me, you little brat!" Victor snapped as he continued to pull Caruso forward. But every inch Caruso moved forward, his jaws squeezed the raptor's hand tighter.

Though muffled, Victor could make out the boy's remark. "Continue to pull me forward, I'll hurt you more..."

"The only thing you're doing is making me angry!" Victor retorted. With that, he reached forward with his free hand. He grabbed Caruso's left ear and pulled hard. Victor knew this was a sensitive spot for humans, and pulling here would cause considerable pain. He had learned it was used as a disciplinary measure at times, and as a means of forcing one human to follow another. He dug his fingernail into the thin skin of the ear as he squeezed harder and pulled again.

Caruso's eyes closed as he tried to ignore the pain. He continued to drive his teeth into Victor's finger. But he continued to be pulled forward, and the pain in his ear was increasing. He could feel the fingernails changing into raptor talons. He could feel the talons cutting into his skin, causing more pain. Finally Caruso couldn't take it anymore. He released Victor's finger and yelled in pain.

Victor released Caruso's ear, and, ignoring the pain in his finger, tightened his grip on the boy and, with one strong yank, pulled the boy all the way out, and then pushed him against one of the containers, and held him there. The human teeth marks were still visible on his finger. His face drew close to Caruso's, and he snarled, "How dare you trick me like that! How dare you bite me with your pitiful human teeth!"

"Well.." Caruso said, trying to think of a comeback. "What did you expect? That I would just fall in line and obey your every command just because you think you're all that?"

"It seems you need to be taught a lesson boy." Victor growled.

"Oh yeah right.." Caruso said, rolling his eyes. He gave Victor a sly look. "It seems to me like you're the one who needs a lesson. You wake up after a sixty-five million year hibernation, and, in a closed-minded decision, right away decide that we humans are inferior and that dinosaurs should still rule the planet. Hasn't it ever occurred to you, Mr. Veloci, that these changes you are planning to make could have more dire consequences than positive results?" Caruso knew then he was spending a bit too much time with Ms. Moynihan. "If you cared so much about the planet, then why are you taking such huge risks? One small change could destroy an ecosystem, and poof! There goes your chances of creating a balanced environment."

Victor growled softly. "I do not need a little brat like you to tell me how to carry out my plans! When they come full circle, everything will be transformed almost all at once! There will be no loopholes, no imbalances! Nothing but perfection!"

"Perfection...oh brother." Caruso shook his head. "There is no such thing as perfection...Nothing in this world is perfect."

"Yeah..especially you humans!" Victor snapped as he gripped Caruso a little tighter. "For years I have watched this planet suffer under your wretched kind's hands! I'll be doing this world a favor by getting rid of all you humans! Like the world will even miss you!" His voice was increasing in intensity and anger.

"Well the planet didn't miss the dinosaurs now did it?" Caruso said, smiling slyly. Victor's eyes widened a little. "Take a look around, Victor. Do you see any signs of the Earth itself mourning for the loss of your precious dinosaurs? The planet moves on. It didn't even flinch when the dinosaurs disappeared."

Victor bared his teeth, now forming into fangs. He was growing angrier and angrier with this boy as he continued to speak with him. "We dinosaurs have dominated the Earth for two hundred million years, you pathetic creature!" He snarled, a bit of saliva dripping down the side of his mouth, a sign of increasing anger. "There's no way that you, a mere human, could possibly comprehend that! You pathetic humans have only ruled this world for two million years, a very lucky feat at that!"

"We weren't lucky." Caruso said, narrowing his eyes a little. "We ruled for two million years because we dominated the other species! We outsmarted all other creatures, and advanced further than many other creatures. We managed to wipe out entire species, and conquer entire continents, possibly at a faster rate than you dinosaurs!"

"It was all dumb luck for you stupid primates!" Victor retorted. He pushed the boy harder against the wall of the container. "If any other real dinosaurs were around, they would certainly agree with that!"

"What about Moynihan?" Caruso asked suddenly. Victor opened up his mouth to say something, but shut it, as he could not think of a response. But his expression had not changed. "She is a Velociraptor, much like yourself, is she not? And yet, unlike you, she recognized humans as the new dominant species. She did not try to wipe us out. She joined our side."

Victor's eyes narrowed further. The mention of Moynihan was making him more temperamental. He did not think fondly of Moynihan all that much. It still boils his blood the way she just outright betrayed him like he had, and after all the progress that they had made together. "Ms. Moynihan is nothing but a traitor! She turned her back on me to be with you inferior insects! She had forgotten about her potential when she was my partner! If she had realized the mistake she was making and come back to me, we could have perfected the DNA together. We would have brought back the reign of the dinosaurs!" He was started to shake slightly from anger. "But she just had to turn he back on me, turn her back on everything that once meant so much to her, to be with YOUR KIND!"

Using a large amount of his strength, Victor roughly pulled Caruso away from the containers, and threw him across the ground. Caruso rolled a few times across the floor, grunting as he came to a stop near the middle of the room. As he struggled to get up, Victor stalked towards him slowly and deliberately. Caruso looked up at Victor, panting a few times. "The only reason she was ever with you was because you were another Velociraptor, not because she actually liked you! And besides, Moynihan does not have the guts to take on the human race! She's too much of a coward herself! She never fights with us on our missions! She just sits back in her nice safe lighthouse! If anything, she is the weakling!"

Victor's eyes widened a bit before narrowing even further, and a faint yellow glow appeared in his eyes. Yes, he agreed that Moynihan was a bit of a coward. Yes, he was still furious at her, even hated her for joining the human's side. But she was still a dinosaur, just like he was. She did not deserve to be insulted by a pathetic creature like this human. He quickened his pace until he was standing next to the boy on the ground. He glared down at him harshly as the boy struggled to his feet. "I'm really getting sick of your attitude, boy!"

Caruso continued to stand up to Victor. He wasn't going to run from him. He was not going to show fear. He was going to show Victor what humans were capable of. He tried to stand tall against the insane raptor, staring at him in the eyes. "And I'm sick of your stupidity, sickle clawed freak! You Velociraptors are not so smart at all! In fact, if your brains were gasoline, you wouldn't have enough to power a tiny motorcycle around the outside of a penny!"

That was the final straw. Victor could not hold himself back any longer. The human had angered him beyond the boiling point. His insults were eating away at his nerves and mind. The pathetic creature obviously did not know who he was dealing with. Now was the time to show him who was really in charge. His legs glowed, changing into the distinct legs of a raptor. The large sickle claws, raised above the ground, seemed to glisten sharply. Before Caruso had time to realize what was going to happen, Victor raised a foot and struck forward, making contact with his arm.

The sickle claw dug deep into the skin, and slashed along the side. As the claw slide across the skin and eventually was wrenched free from the arm, it had left a deep gash from the elbow to the wrist of the boy's left arm. Eyes closed in pain, Caruso backed up a few steps, trying to stifle a scream of pain. He held his arm to himself, and examined it. He looked horrified as he saw his own blood seeping from the deep cut. He tried to press his hand against the cut to stop the bleeding, but every time he did, it would increase the pain, causing him to pull his hand away. He looked over at Victor with eyes filled with fear.

Victor smiled darkly as he advanced on the boy. "Do you still think I'm a joke..?"

"G-Get away from me!" Caruso said in defense, trying to sound brave.

"You're in no position to give me orders..." Victor said as he continued to get closer. Caruso took a few steps back, but was clearly trying to stand his ground. "All you humans are the same. Your arrogance and ignorance both astound me. I'll never understand how you ever got to be in charge. It was just some sort of fluke..." He reached out with one hand, the same hand that Caruso had bitten earlier, and gripped the boy's lower jaw tightly. He forcefully tilted the boy's head to one side, and then to the other, as if he were examining him. "You humans are just a bunch of bags of flesh I could easily rip open..."

Caruso felt the fear rising up inside him, but he had enough rebellion left in him for one more retort. "L-Lizard lips.." He managed to say.

Victor's eyes narrowed dangerously, and he shoved the boy roughly, knocking him onto his back. Before Caruso could try to get back up, Victor placed his foot firmly on the kid's chest, and used some of his weight to keep the boy from getting back up. He pushed on the boy's chest with his foot a little harder, causing him to have slight difficulty in breathing. "You little whelp... You obviously have no idea who is really running the show here..."

"Please get off of me.." Caruso said, his voice no longer filled with the energy it once was.

Victor smirked. "Feeling the fear rising up inside you? Good... You should be afraid boy." He applied more pressure, causing Caruso to gasp. "You're dealing with a superior species now." He bent down and enclosed his raptor hand around Caruso's neck. His grip on the boy's neck tightened, and he smirked as the boy continued to struggle to breathe normally. "Such a weak boy you are.."

"Such..such strong words coming from a...tiny brained creature like yourself.." Caruso said without thinking, his hands trying to pry off Victor's foot. He continued on to say, "D-Dinosaurs were s-stupid... brains the size of walnuts... Just complete idiots..they were..."

Victor's eyes glowed intensely, and he quickly released Caruso's neck, and lifted his foot off of him. At first, Caruso thought he was being set free, but he was quickly proven wrong when he felt a sharp pain in his side. Victor slammed his foot against the kid's ribcage, and sent him sprawling backwards a few feet. He cried out in pain as he slammed harshly into the hard floor. He quickly stood up on shaky legs and stared over at Victor, who was again stalking in his direction. Caruso backed up against the wall, watching in horror was Victor drew closer.

"Puny little urchin...!" Victor quickly cornered the boy. He knew the boy was too frightened to think about going dino, and he used this to his advantage. Extending his finger talons, he held his arms in a threatening manner, like a Velociraptor would. His teeth were bared, the lips pulled back to reveal the sharp tips of his raptor-like teeth. The eyes glowed so intensely that the black eye-whites were no longer visible. "Since you seem to have no respect for your superiors, you will have to be taught a lesson..." He reached upward, beside Caruso just a few inches away, to grab something. "I did not want to have to do this..but you left me no choice, Caruso."

As he said this, his fingers fumbled around the shelf until he felt something thick and leathery. He quickly grabbed it and pulled it out. As he held the device in his hand, Caruso let out an audible gasp at the sight of it. It looked like nothing he had seen before. He could see one piece that looked like it would fit around a human head, and a larger section that could fit around the waist. There was a rope attached to it for some reason. But what frightened Caruso were the vicious spikes that lined the device, and he could see tiny gray wires that ran along it as well. He didn't know what they were for, but he didn't want to find out.

"W-What is that.." Caruso asked, stammering.

"It's a human war bridle..." Victor responded, holding it up closer with the intention of putting it on the teenager.

"No..don't put that thing on me!" Caruso begged, pressing himself against the wall as far as he could go. His body started to shake visibly, and he could have sworn he could hear his own teeth chattering.

"Oh I'm sorry." Victor said sarcastically. "But I'm only doing what must be done.." He then lunged forward and pinned Caruso on the ground. He struggled to keep the boy pinned on the ground. Caruso kicked and punched blindly, trying in vain to get the criminal off of his back. But Victor was stronger, and he managed to subdue Caruso long enough for him to fit the head piece onto him. A band wrapped around the boy's forehead, the sharp tips of the spikes starting to dig in slightly. Another band wound around his lower jaw and the back of his head. The bit, the mouth piece of a bridle, had forced its way into his mouth. It was lined with sharp spikes as well, and it scraped against his tongue.

As Victor put on the rest of bridle, hooking it to his body, Caruso could feel the spikes drive deeper into his forehead, and he could feel the bit pulling painfully against his lips. He tried to talk, but every time he attempted, the bit would cut into his tongue painfully. Eventually Victor released him, and held the rope in his hand. Caruso realized, in horror, that the rope was attached to the bridle in such a manner that if pulled it would painfully drive the spikes into his head and possibly activate the wires, sending who knows what through his body to increase the pain.

"You will find out, boy, that I am not like Ms. Moynihan. I am not a soft fool... I know how all you humans are like. You're all the same... And I know how to break you..." Victor took a step forward. "The bridle won't hurt you as much if you do what I say, and it will hurt even less if you go dino. But mark my words, child, continue to defy me, and I'll make your life a living nightmare..." To prove his point, he pulled on the bridle roughly, causing Caruso to scream as he felt not only the spikes digging into him but electricity as well from the metal wires. He struggled in vain to free himself despite the pain he was feeling, especially the bit cutting painfully into his tongue.

Victor watched the young boy struggle against the bridle, attempting to fight it. Victor's lips pulled back into a vicious grin. He knew no creature could stand pain for very long. He just needed to be patient, and the boy will eventually have his spirit broken. He gave one more pull, driving the spikes deeper into the boy. He could see that already blood was trinkling a little from the boy's forehead. "You can't stand the pain, can you, human?" He asked in a soft, sarcastic voice. "If you can't..I suggest you go dino. Now."

Caruso's eyes, previously tightly closed, now opened up as he listened to what Victor was telling him. He realized, just as he suspected, that Victor was trying to gain control over him. He knew Victor was going to use this dreaded bridle he was now condemned to wearing to cause him so much pain that he would have to submit to him. He wasn't about to let that happen, and he would offer a sarcastic remark, but the pain prevented him from doing so. All he could do was look up at Victor's smiling face with terror-filled eyes...

"Are you sure there isn't anyway we can help?" Jack asked as he stood in the door frame of the lighthouse. His wife was standing next to him, her hand and arm wrapped onto his shoulder. In front of them stood the four remaining members of the Dino Squad. Their gear was one, and they were standing next to their dinosaur motorcycles. While she was reluctant at first, Ms. Moynihan decided to allow the kids to try to fight Peter. It was the only chance they had.

"Yes..isn't there anything?" Amanda asked carefully. These weren't her kids, but she couldn't help but feel responsible if they ended up being killed by the sauropod that was stomping its way towards the lighthouse. She tried to hide a gasp as she looked up and could see, barely, the figure of a large dinosaur coming in their direction. This reminded her of how she reacted when she first found out Caruso was a Stegosaurus.

Rodger pushed open a compartment on the Styraco-Cycle and gently placed a bag holding the Chiller and Spiller in it. Ms. Moynihan had suggested trying the Chiller and Spiller on Peter. Maybe there was a chance that his dino DNA wasn't contaminated. If it wasn't, then the Chiller and Spiller should strip him of his dinosaur form. It was a long shot though. She had never tested his DNA for herself. She had never even met him personally. Ms. Moynihan had only known about him through spying on Victor, and had known for some time that he could transform. She had kept this information a secret from the Dino Squad all this time, something she was starting to regret now.

Max saw this as an opportunity, regardless. If they could successfully subdue Peter in either dino mode or in human form, they could force him to talk and tell them where Caruso was being held. He could lead them straight to Victor's hiding place. Fiona and Buzz partially disagreed with him. They stated that Peter could pretend to agree to their terms and then just lead them straight into a trap. Max had taken this into consideration, but still thought they had a chance to negotiate with Peter. During the discussion, Rodger had thought about what Ms. Moynihan had said, about removing the dinosaur DNA, and, while he did not suggest it, thought they could warn Peter that if he wants to keep his dinosaur form, he would spill the beans. But so far no one really had a fool-proof plan.

"We are certain, Mr. Caruso." Rodger said as he placed his helmet onto his head. "We don't want to endanger your lives. And someone needs to stay here with Ms. Moynihan."

"But isn't she a Velociraptor?" Amanda asked, her grip on her husband tightening a little. She never did get completely used to the idea of her son being taught by a prehistoric predator. "Can't she take care of herself?"

Rodger shook his head. "Not with that injury she can't."

"Come on, guys." Max said, interrupting the brief chat between Rodger and Caruso's parents. "If we don't go soon, Peter will run us right through."

As the Dino Squad got on their respective bikes and rode off into the distance to face off with the encroaching Apatosaurus, Jack and Amanda sighed and went back into the building, shutting the door behind them. Ms. Moynihan was still sitting down. She had gotten out her knitting equipment and was slowly knitting something resting on her lap. She briefly glanced up as the couple as they sat back down on the couch closest to her chair. She gave him a sympathetic look before returning her gaze back to her knitting. She didn't know why she was doing this other than to keep her mind off of the things that had happened in such a short period of time. First they are tricked by Michelle and her accomplice into letting Michelle into the lighthouse. Then Michelle sneaks in after the Dino Squad leave, attack her, and destroy the monitoring equipment. Then the next day, Victor arrives at the lighthouse and captures Caruso. Then they try to get a computer to work and it blows on them. Now Peter was coming, obviously to destroy the lighthouse. Things just couldn't get any worse.

And she was becoming a bit frustrated at her inability to do anything. It would be around this time she would be up at the top of the building, aiding the kids from the sidelines with her equipment. But today, she could not do anything but sit and pray they would make it. She couldn't even go with them to help them fight. Her ankle still bothered her and walking was almost impossible even in dinosaur form. What use would she be if she kept falling down due to the pain in her ankle? She would only get in the way. And she also started to feel like a burden to Caruso's parents. They had to stay behind just for her due to her ankle. She sighed, feeling a bit guilty about this.

"...Professor Moynihan...?" Amanda heard a masculine voice ask her. She looked up, although she did not need to to know who was talking to her. Jack looked as if he was struggling with what he wanted to say. He was not looking directly at her or his wife. Instead his gaze was distant, pointing towards the ground although he did not seem that focused on it. He was nervously fumbling with his fingers, feeling himself succumbing to the feelings of despair and crushed hope, even though it hasn't even been twenty-four hours yet.

"Yes, Mr. Caruso?" Moynihan said gently. She continued to knit a little, but at a extremely slow, delicate pace.

Jack opened up his mouth to say something, but no words were coming. He shut his jaws, and let out a sigh of frustration. Ms. Moynihan was patient, and allowed the man enough time to come up with something he wanted to say. She could tell he was going through a tough time. At last, the man sat straight up, and managed to sum up the courage to look at her straight in the eyes. "Do you think.." He gulped. "Do you think that those kids will be able to...defeat that guy? I mean I know they can turn into dinosaurs and everything, but..they're still just kids. They-"

"I can assure you, Mr. Caruso," Moynihan interjected him, "They are quite capable of taking care of themselves. They have faced off with countless different types of mutants and have made it out all right. This will be no different."

"How can you be so sure about that?" Now it was Amanda's turn to say something. "Have they ever fought against a dinosaur larger than themselves before?"

"Well...no...but..." Moynihan tried to say, but Amanda interrupted her.

"But nothing! Those children are risking their lives out there and you aren't lifting a finger to help!" Amanda yelled, surprising both her husband and the elderly teacher. "You're just sitting here..knitting! You aren't helping!" She tried to say more, but she felt her husband's gentle hands on her shoulders.

"Now..dear..." Jack said to her softly. "I'm sure she wouldn't just let them go if she did not truly think they could do this for themselves."

Joanne gave a nod, attempting to give a small smile although her guilt was making it difficult to do that. She said, "Your husband is right. I would not dare risk the children's lives if I believed the challenge was too great for them." She lifted up a hand and pressed a finger on her forehead to push her glasses back. "And I wish I could help, but I would just get in the way. How can I help the children if I can't even stand up for very long?"

"I..." But Amanda couldn't think of a comeback. The brief anger she was feeling was seeping away quickly. Her husband and the teacher were both right. There was really no point in blaming Ms. Moynihan. Even if the old woman had tried to stop the kids, they would have gone anyway. "I'm sorry." She said, closing her eyes lightly.

"It's all right." Joanne said as she offered a comforting smile. "You don't need to apologize."

"What about Caruso?" This question from Jack almost caught Moynihan off guard. The question seemed to have come out of nowhere. "What do you think Victor will..do to him if we don't find him quickly?"

Ms. Moynihan gulped audibly, and fell silent. Her gaze slowly casted onto the cloth she was knitting. Her mind was soon invaded by many thoughts and regrets. She hadn't really fully explained to Caruso's parents what might happen if Victor ever found out the truth and successfully caught one of them. She knew that if she had told them, they would have gone hysterical. And there would be little she could do to comfort them. And now she was faced with this very question. And she could tell that Jack was not going to let it go unanswered, and he wanted the truth. Feeling guilt rising up inside of her, Joanne took in a deep breath and told them the truth.

"I have..told the children not long after they joined what could happen if Victor found out they were not perfect dinosaurs, but rather humans who can change back and forth. He would do everything he can to capture them all. Because he has only seen this ability in himself and I, he would want to know just how they are able to perform the same feat. So he would..turn them into his personal lab rats and use all kinds of untested material on them." Moynihan explained solemnly. She heard both parents of Caruso gasp loudly, and she could not bear to look at their expressions. "While I would like to believe that Victor would not kill any of them and deem them too valuable to just destroy, Victor is not above ending the life of anyone whom he believes stands in the way of his dream." She had recalled how Victor looked determined to kill her off in that final battle so many years ago. Even though he spared her life, the look in his eye told her very clearly that he would have killed her, and not hesitate to do so. She prayed Caruso would not fall under a similar fate.

Peter continued to travel along the road. He hadn't had any trouble with people for some time now. He figured that he must have frightened everyone off. He hoped so. He couldn't afford drawing attention. He gazed off into the distance and he could see his target: the lighthouse. He smirked mentally as he noted that, like all lighthouses, this one stood precariously close to the edge of the cliff. With his powerful body, he could easily topple it over the edge and send it crashing into the water below. He did wonder briefly of what might happen to the ships that sail by this area if the lighthouse is destroyed, but he quickly dismissed it. The outcome of the act will be irrelevant once Victor's plan is fully realized.

He felt a cool breeze swaying against him, and he paused momentarily. There was some kind of scent mixing in with the air. Sauropods' sense of smell isn't too strong, but it is good enough to detect certain odors. The smell was almost metallic in nature. It didn't smell like smoke, and if it was he should have been able to see it by now. His eyes remained focused on the stretch of land in front of him, as the smell was coming from over there. And then something else caught his attention. He could feel a slight rumble in the ground. It was being made by something rather small in comparison to him, but still considerably heavy. And it felt like there was more than one source.

He stood his ground, stomping his foot into the road. A loud bellow escaped through his long, tube-like neck. His challenging call went unanswered, but whatever was coming towards him was not stopping. His eyes narrowed, trying to figure out what could be coming his way. He had a choice. He could either make a break for it and stomp his way past the intruders to the lighthouse, or he could stand and fight and make sure they don't interfere with him. He had chosen to spare the last intruders. Instinct was telling him to spare these ones too, but his mind was telling him otherwise.

Then, just as suddenly as the rumble started it stopped. There was nothing but silence, but the smell still hung in the air. Peter lowered his neck in nervous anticipation. He didn't know what he had to worry about in this dinosaur form. But working with Victor has taught him to always be on his toes. Something unexpected could always happen.

And in this case, something unexpected did happen.

There was a bright flash, orange-yellow in color, that illuminated part of the road and foliage alongside it. He briefly heard a weird sound, a sound that he had associated with dinosaur transformation. It didn't take him long to realize just what this was about. Eyes widening, he realized that he had caught the attention of the Dino Squad, also known as the perfect dinosaurs. But how had they known he was coming? Their equipment was destroyed and he was still too far away for them to realize who he was and why he was approaching. His mind flashed back to the kid who he had harassed earlier. As he was walking away he did happen to look back briefly to make sure they weren't following him, and he happened to notice something shiny in the kid's hand. He didn't know what it was, and he paid it no mind then. But now he wishes he had done something. The stupid kid had alerted the Dino Squad to his presence! Well there goes the element of surprise.

Before he could try to take another step, a large Tyrannosaurus Rex jumped onto the road. Green with maroon blotches, eyes as intimidating as Victor's, and massive jaws full of sharp teeth, he was definitely the same T-Rex that Raptor Dyne has tried to deal with time and time again. He was the same T-Rex that Victor was so obsessed about capturing since he is purebred. And yet he is the same T-Rex that has been helping foil Victor's plans all this time. But despite his fearsome appearance and massive size, he was still dwarfed by Peter's dinosaur form. His head towered well above the snarling T-Rex.

But of course, the Tyrannosaurus had not come alone. Soon joining him were three more perfect dinosaurs. One was a very muscular and large Styracosaurus. He was gray with dark maroon markings all over his body. He let out a bellow that closely resembled an elephant's call. Peter had always assumed that Styracosaurus wouldn't have brow horns, as that was more traditional with a Triceratops or Torosaurus. When he had expressed this to Victor, the billionaire had told him that the human scientists just never found a perfectly preserved skull of a Styracosaurus. It appears that, despite fearsome appearances, the brow horns were quite brittle compared to the other horns and could not fossilize easily.

Standing next to the T-Rex was the golden female Spinosaurus. Victor identified her as female because she had a crest on her head. Victor claims that some species of dinosaur have crests on the female members, but none on the males. This was also true for Velociraptors. Victor lacked a crest but Ms. Moynihan sported one. Peter still had a hard time believing at how fast this animal could move. She was pretty fast on land, but very fast when she was in the water. This was because she was streamlined, reducing the amount of water resistance against her body as she moved through the liquid. But although a predator like the T-Rex, she did not appear nearly as fearsome. Peter didn't know if that was because Spinosaurus was generally a fish-eater, or if it was because the teenager behind the dinosaur just wasn't the type into conflict.

Flying above them was the bright green and orange Pteranodon. Contrary to what Peter had learned growing up, this purebred Pteranodon had a long tail and sported a beak full of sharp teeth. The name Pteranodon, which meant toothless flyer, no longer fit the description of this animal. Peter knew the Pteranodon did not have as much strength as the others. He had to remain lightweight and thus did not have as much muscles for fighting as the other dinosaurs. His beak was not relatively strong and his feet weren't well designed for gripping. But despite that he has seen the Pteranodon holding objects with his feet, and he can't really figure out how he does it. Despite the Pteranodon's overfall physical weakness, he has the flight advantage, and this ability has helped the Dino Squad escape in the past.

'Greetings, perfect dinosaurs.' Peter called out, taking one step forward. He did not flinch as the dinosaurs in front of him growled at his approach. 'Or should I say Dino Squad?'

'Shut up, Peter.' Fiona opened her jaws to display her teeth. Peter did not look surprised that they knew his name. Ms. Moynihan probably found out during her spying sessions and told them. 'Where have you taken Caruso?'

A growl rumbled in the throat of the T-Rex. 'Where are you hiding him?'

Peter turned his head to the side, his eyes still focused on the smaller dinosaurs standing before him. He opened his jaws in a dinosaurian laugh. 'And what exactly makes you think I will tell you?'

Buzz narrowed his Pteranodon eyes, the glowing slightly intensifying as he softly growled a statement. 'We will make you.'

'Oh please.' Peter shook his head. 'After working with Victor for so long, it's going to take a lot more than a bunch of teenagers to frighten me.' He lowered his head a little, and baring his teeth in a dinosaur grin. 'You have a much better chance at winning the lottery than getting information from me.'

Rodger moved his head a little, and pointed his nose horn towards the direction of Peter's long neck. He used one foot to kick up dirt in a threatening manner similar to rhinos. 'If you don't tell us, we will have to strip you of your precious dinosaur form.'

Peter blinked his eyes a few times, and tilted his head. He seemed to be contemplating this information. He was quite aware that the Dino Squad did apparently have the equipment to remove prehistoric DNA from living creatures. He was wondering if they were possibly bluffing. But he did not see a reason for them to do that, as the bluff wouldn't last long. And it would only work once. He then wondered just how they would pull it off. They would need to subdue him somehow as he was likely to strike them down if any of them turn back into human. And they could not operate the Chiller or Spiller in dinosaur form. He concluded that there was little chance of the Dino Squad subduing him long enough to remove the DNA from his body.

Peter narrowed his eyes and bared his teeth. His tail raised up high and lashed from side to side. He stomped his foot into the ground a few times, cracking the cement on the road. Letting out a sauropod battle cry, he announced, 'All right then, Dino Squad. If you want to know where your precious friend is...fight me. And if you defeat me, I just might tell you where to find your pitiful friend.'

Max was the first to answer. 'Don't you dare talk trash about my friend!' His large jaws opened up quickly and a loud roar tore through his throat and jaws. He took off towards the large dinosaur, his feet stomping so heavily in the road they were making footprints. Despite his heavy body, he managed to lunge forward and attempted to knock Peter onto the ground. But when he hit the gray body, it was only he himself who fell to the ground. The sauropod towered over him.

'Is that the best you've got, punk?' Peter teased. He lowered his long neck down and gripped Max's tail with his long jaws. He bit hard enough that his peg-like teeth broke through the thin skin of the T-Rex's tail. Max let out a bellow of agony as blood seeped through the cuts formed by the teeth. Peter pulled his head back, pulling Max with him. With a fling of the neck and head muscles, he tossed Max aside, sending him crashing onto his side. Peter turned his attention back to the other dinosaurs. 'Who is next?' He asked.

'If strength won't work,' Fiona charged forward. 'Maybe speed will!'

Peter barely had time to react. It took only seconds for Fiona to get from where she was before to getting close enough to land a bite on one of his thick trunk-like legs. Peter pulled his head back and bellowed in pain, and pulled his leg roughly from the jaws of the fish-eating predator. There were a few shallow lacerations across the leg and a little bit of blood, but nothing serious. Fiona wasn't finished through. As Peter moved in to attack, she backed up quickly and ran around behind him. Apatosauruses could not turn very quickly due to their massive size.

'What are you planning..?' Peter asked, even though he knew he was not going to get an answer.

Almost as if to answer him, Fiona jumped onto the villain's back. Her small but formidable claws sank into his scaly skin, making it difficult for him to knock her off of his back. Aiming carefully, Fiona shot her head forward and sank her teeth into the base of his neck. 'This is what I was planning.' She told him, smirking to herself.

With Fiona on his back distracting him, this gave the others a chance to move in. Wanting revenge for having his tail bitten, Max went behind Peter and snagged the thin end of the tail in his powerful jaws. There was an audible cracking sound as the vertebrae at the tail tip were crushed. Overwhelmed with excruciating pain, Peter bellowed loudly, his voice filled with agony.

'Why you little brat...!' Peter said through the pain. 'When I get my hands on you, I'll...!'

'You'll..what?' Max asked, biting the tail harder and threatening to rip the tail tip off.

Buzz rose up into the air further until he was several feet above Peter. He brought out his talons and aimed carefully. He had to make sure he was right on target. Making a call like that of an eagle, he dove towards Peter's head, his sharp talons aiming for the face. They made contact, and he took pleasure in digging his sharp talons into the villain's face. The sudden assault had left Peter temporarily blinded, and as the gray dinosaur struggled with three dinosaurs hanging off of him, Rodger took his opportunity to step in.

Rodger lowered his head, his jagged horns aiming at Peter's side. He kicked up dirt as he prepared to charge. He had to charge at just the right time, when Peter's side was facing him. He had to be careful not to hit any of his team mates. If he did, they would be at a disadvantage. He wanted to call out a warning, but believed that if Peter knew what he was about to do, he would find someway to stop him. Rodger would have to trust that his teammates would get out of the way in time. Letting out a bellow, he charged forward. The sharp tips of the horns aimed directly at Peter's right flank. Within seconds they connected.

His horns did not drive that deep into the flank, but deep enough to draw blood. The force of the impact nearly cracked his horns and had caused Peter to topple a little. But to Rodger's horror, the force of the impact was not enough to knock him over completely, yet succeeded in knocking Fiona and Buzz off of him. Rodger shook his head and took a step back. Peter quickly regained his balance and stared at the Styracosaurus. 'Heheheh..I guess I should thank you for freeing me of those two pests...' He turned his long neck to face the T-Rex who still had a hold of his tail. 'And as for you...' He lifted his tail up into the air despite the pain, pulling the T-Rex with him. Ignoring the pain further, he started to slam the Tyrannosaurus Rex against a tree a few times before he finally released his tail.

Max shook his massive head as he struggled to his feet. 'Nice going Rodger...' He said, clearly disappointed in his friend. 'We almost had him!'

Buzz nodded. 'We could have defeated him if you hadn't charged in like that. If Max couldn't knock him down, what made you think you could?'

'I'm sorry guys...' Rodger said, bowing his head. His effort to help hadn't paid off and had instead backfired. 'I was just trying to help...'

'Enough sulking and arguing.' Fiona snarled as she kept her eyes on Peter. 'What are we going to do about him?'

Max tilted his head. 'What can we do? I can't knock him down. Rodger clearly can't knock him down.'

'Hey, I tried!' Rodger said defensively.

Buzz flapped his wings as he hovered above the group. He nervously watched as Peter approached them. 'Well I hope one of you gets an idea soon. Otherwise we're gonna be sore losers and the lighthouse will be history!'

Max turned his head to face the lighthouse. He thought about the defenseless occupants inside. He imagined what it would be like for him if Peter reaches them. He didn't want to be the one who let this happen. He knew he must figure out a way to stop Peter and fast. Thoughts ran through his mind, and he tried to analyze them, trying to think of some sort of weakness Peter might have. His massive body makes him difficult to attack, and his large bulk made it nearly impossible to knock him down. If they knocked him down, his own body weight could break some bones.

'Oh man...what are we going to do?' Fiona asked as she showed Peter her fangs in an attempt to scare him. Peter only brushed it off and started to walk towards them.

Max shook his head. 'I..I don't know. But we'll have to think of something fast.'

Michelle walked down one of the hallways in Raptor Dyne. She and Oscura had been left here, along with other staff members. Victor said he did not require their assistance any longer on this mission. Oscura was really bummed about it, but Victor had made up his mind. Oscura and Michelle were both off-duty until further notice. Michelle didn't mind too much, although she silently wished Victor had given them something to do to pass the time. Raptor Dyne was closed, and mostly empty. Many of the lights were off, many hallways were dark, many rooms almost black in color. Several large doors had been shut and sealed, preventing anyone from crossing, including staff members with authorized cards.

Michelle had little reason to wonder why these doors were sealed. Although this was Raptor Dyne, there were some staff members who weren't let in on the secret of the company. To guard against unwanted visitors, Victor had designed door locks that only open when he gives the command. Only the rooms with the most important experimentations were sealed off. Other rooms, such as the one Michelle had accessed the same day she was given the assignment to infiltrate the lighthouse, were deemed safe enough to avoid the mega seals. Only staff members who shared Victor's vision were given authorization cards to be allowed in.

The brown-haired girl reached a large door, beige in color with a gray metallic border. She pushed it open to enter a large room filled with long tables with circle chairs and a large food bar. Various types of food, including rice, chicken, broccoli, mashed potatoes, steamed carrots, and pasta, lay under heat lamps in small containers. She strode over and grabbed a plate, and began to take a bit of chicken and broccoli. She wasn't really hungry, but she had a bad habit: when she's bored she eats. When her plate was full, she walked over to one of the empty tables and sat down.

As she began to eat, her mind began to wander. She didn't know why, but she couldn't stop thinking about Caruso. She didn't know exactly what Victor was going to do with him. She knew that Victor isn't exactly the gentle type. She would label him more of a manipulator, but she's never known him to be especially cruel. She's never seen him do anything that had frightened her or gave her reason to call the cops on him.

But she knew, deep down, Victor was not the one to mess with. She knew what he was capable of, and what he might be capable of. She couldn't help but worry about Caruso because his attitude may push Victor over the edge. And then what? How could she defend herself against the charges of murder? She would not be guilty of first-degree murder, but she could be found guilty of helping Victor capture Caruso. Even if she tried to explain that she did not want it to happen, she'd still be found guilty and sent to prison. And if that happened, she'd have no one to bail her out.

Oscura had mentioned to her, when entering the Raptor Dyne building, that Victor's secret plan to control Caruso was going to be a shocking experience. When Michelle had prompted her to explain further, Oscura just smirked at her and wandered off into the building. Michelle has not yet been able to locate her current position, and she won't answer her communicator. She could not really expect a direct answer from Oscura. Teasing, talking in riddles, and giving hints has been the nature of their relationship since day one. And barely anything has changed.

Still, she wondered what Oscura had meant by shocking experience. There were probably many things it could be, all or most of which were unpleasant or disturbing, maybe painful. And as she began to think of pain, her eyes narrowed, but not because she was feeling sympathy for Caruso. No, this time she was getting upset with the idea of the Dino Squad finding them. She could feel it; the Dino Squad would eventually find them. And if Victor does anything to Caruso, and the squad finds out, they could be in big trouble.

Sure, they weren't much of a match for her and Oscura before, but back then they weren't powered by raw emotion. If they became pissed off for one reason or another, their own anger could fuel their strength, and make them hard to beat. But then, this same emotion could cause them to make irrational or stupid choices, and one slip-up could give her or Oscura the upper hand, or claw as this case might be. Yet even with Caruso out-of-commission, the squad would still out number them four-to-two. Two small dinosaurs against four large dinosaurs powered by raw anger and hatred, that was going to be a challenge that even Oscura herself might have doubts about.

The Dino Squad's reaction would be based on the severity of Caruso's wounds, if any are inflicted on him. Michelle did not know yet what Victor had in mind other than experimentations. While they are generally unpleasant sometimes, she hasn't seen any of Vic's experiments go too far. But she could be wrong. There were probably plenty of experiments that she has yet to see or never will see.

"I knew I'd find you here." She heard a playful yet annoying voice say behind her. She groaned softly.

"Look who finally decided to show her face." Michelle muttered in between bites of food. She sat down a piece of chicken and turned around to face Oscura. What perfect timing too, she was just thinking about her. Perhaps she could convince Oscura to tell her exactly what Victor had planned for Caruso.

Oscura grinned. "I didn't know you were hungry already." The raven-haired girl teased, pointing at the plate full of food. "I thought you already ate about an hour ago. You're such a pig. I'm surprised you don't get very fat."

"Oh shut up Oscura." Michelle said bitterly. She picked up a fork and began to eat a couple pieces of broccoli. After she swallowed, she spoke to Oscura in a calmer voice. "Is there any reason why Victor doesn't want me to know what he has planned for Caruso? Oh I mean I know that Caruso is to be subjected to a few experiments. But this method of control.. why doesn't he want me to know? Thinks I'm too squeamish for it?" She forced a chuckle.

Oscura didn't reply right away. She walked slowly, deliberately, towards Michelle, and sat down on the chair across from where she was. When she answered, it was no longer a riddle or sarcastic remark. It was a very serious and yet somewhat calm response. "He is afraid you might rebel."

This statement almost caused Michelle to spit her food out. "What?!" She cried in almost disbelief. "I've seen Victor do all sorts of things, Oscura. I've even agreed to help him wipe out humanity! What could he possibly be going to Caruso that would make me even think about betraying him?"

"Are you really sure you want to know?" The seriousness in Oscura's voice was almost foreign to Michelle. It was like she was a whole other person entirely. "I don't think you could handle the truth."

Michelle rolled her eyes. "Just try me." She placed the fork, piercing a piece of meat, into her mouth, pushed the piece of chicken off, pulled the fork out, and began to chew. "There isn't anything you can say that will catch me off guard, Michelle. I know you."

"All right then." Oscura said. She leaned forward a little, holding her hands together and resting her chin on the crossed thumbs. She opened up her mouth to speak, but the words that came out would take even Victor himself completely off guard. "Get down on your knees and tell me you love me!"

"WHAT?!" Michelle gasped, dropping the fork from her hands.

Oscura said, "You gotta do better than that!"

"I have no idea what you are talking about!" Michelle said, becoming scared. She got up from her seat and backed away. Oscura had gone bananas! Well sure she was crazy before, but this was taking the cake!

Oscura chuckled and began to approach her. "Merry Christmas you filthy animal! And a happy new year!"

Suddenly the world turned bright white as if a light was shined in Michelle's eyes. She bolted up, her forehead a bit sweaty, and her vision a bit blurred. After a few seconds, it sharpened up and she looked around the room. They were in a room that resembled a teacher's lounge. She was sitting on one of the chairs of a long wooden table. There were other occupants, including Oscura. There was a TV mounted in a top corner of the room. Flashing on the screen was a relatively old movie from the 90s, a comedy movie.

Next to her was Oscura. She was holding her mouth, trying hard not to laugh. Michelle narrowed her eyes at her. She could tell Oscura was having a very hard time to hold back her laughter. Her eyes were starting to water, and were squinted so much she could barely see her pupils. "What do you want, Oscura?" Michelle snapped, almost completely over the shock of the dream. She felt a little embarrassed that she had fallen asleep to one of her favorite movies.

"Did anyone tell you that you talk in your sleep?" Oscura smirked, chortling softly so she didn't distract the others. "It could be an entertainment form all on its own!"

"Shut up!" Michelle snapped, blushing fiercely in humiliation.

"Transform!" Victor shouted as he gave a small but firm pull on the device that still ensnared Caruso's body. Sparks flew everywhere around his body, mildly burning his skin. The spikes dug deep into his skin multiple times. The bit in his mouth sliced his mouth up a bit, and blood was oozing out of the corner of his mouth. But still he remained standing, glaring at Victor defiantly, yet still retained that fear in his eyes. Victor was a little frustrated, but he knew the boy's strength was weakening. He gave another pull. "Transform!" He commanded again, shouting louder than the first time. "I said transform!"

Caruso attempted to speak. "I won't..take orders..from you..." His voice was full of terror, and after talking he couldn't help but cry out in pain as he felt his tongue get another deep cut in it. The corner of his lips were getting lacerated as well.

"I know you can't stand the pain, boy." Victor said calmly. He let the rope that attached to the human war bridle slack a little, but his grip on it remained tight. He walked over to the child, confident that he wouldn't try to run with that device still on him. He still had Caruso backed up against the wall. The boy's back was centimeters away from the hard surface. He had no where to go anyway. Just as before, Victor reached out to hold Caruso's lower jaw. This time though he was more gentle. He pushed the boy's head up a little, and locked eyes on the kid.

"Let me get something straight with you kid." Victor said softly, although Caruso could still hear the frustration and anger in his voice. "I don't really like to cause pain where it is not needed. I don't really like doing this to you. Why don't you make it easier on yourself and quit before I am forced to hurt you even further?" Victor was trying to sound sincere, but he was lying through his teeth. He had little sympathy for the boy, and he didn't really care if he had to continue to cause him pain. He was mainly telling him this lie for his benefit. If the boy stopped struggling, he didn't have to waste as much energy on him.

Victor had used this facade before when dealing with humans. Whenever a human were to spot one of his creations and they weren't on his team, he had to step in and reassure them that there was no such thing as monsters or mutants. He had to make sure they would not spread this news to anyone. Luckily for him, the human race was overall gullible, at least by his standards, and many were willing to believe him simply because he was a high-ranking individual. They will soon realize their trust in him would lead them to their own downfall.

Caruso glared at Victor fearfully, but did not try to respond for fear of cutting his tongue more. Instead, he responded physically. He jerked his head away from Victor, freeing the grip on him. He then turned his head to look at Victor. His eyes were still narrowed, and his teeth were bared, biting into the bit that rested inside his mouth. But Victor only smiled. He could still see that spark of fear in the boy.

"So it's going to be like that, is it kid?" Victor asked as he took a small step backwards. "Very well then..." Victor had to admit, he was a bit impressed at how the boy still tried to stand up to him, despite the obvious discomfort he was in. This high tolerance of pain could make him a valuable ally to his purpose.

But before he could even think about that, he would have to break the boy's will. He now knew this was the only way to make the boy listen to him, and obey him. Only after he broke the boy's spirit, or at least severely weaken it, could he continue his experiments on the kid, testing a few weapons as well as untested chemicals, plants, and perhaps even battle a few of his mutations. As he pulled the rope up ever so slightly, he smiled as he saw Caruso's eyes locked onto the rope, anticipating the next pull and the next wave of pain to overtake him.

Then Victor did something else. Instead of pulling on the rope itself, he reached out with his hand again. This time he grabbed two leather straps, both connected to the bit in the boy's mouth. Without hesitation, he gave a sharp tug. The action caused the bit to wrench free of the boy's teeth and cut deep into the corner of the boy's mouth. With lips being one of the most sensitive parts of the human body, Caruso's eyes watered and he screamed in agony. The scream soon diminished into soft whimpering as Victor released the grip on the straps. Caruso bowed his head as he felt both relief of the pressure off of his lips and in shock of Victor pulling on the bit so suddenly.

Victor took a few steps forward, heading in the direction of the door. He wanted to return the boy to his cell room to confine him for now. He believed the boy had enough pain for the time being. He would let him rest for the remainder of the day, but the next day, he wouldn't be so understanding. He stopped, and realized the boy wasn't following him. He turned around, and pointed his finger roughly to the ground, a gesture he's seen humans give to dogs when they want them to come. Caruso, however, just stood there, and took a step back. Veloci glared at him, and held up the rope, threatening to pull it again. Eyes widening and wanting to avoid the pain, Caruso lowered his head and started to walk forward.

Victor smiled arrogantly. "Good..." He entered the hallway and started to make his way towards the cell room, holding the rope in his hands as he led Caruso closely behind.

'Look out!' Buzz shouted as he pumped his wings to stay in the air. Below him, Peter had just smashed into the ground, narrowly missing Fiona, who dodged him at the last second. She retaliated by attempting to bite the leg closest to her, but Peter had anticipated this move, and proceeded to intercept her. His sauropod jaws clamped down onto her thin, flexible brown sail, and knocked her back into the ground. Keeping a hold of her sail, he held her in place as he raised up a foot above her head, intent on crushing it under his weight.

'Fiona!' Rodger cried, charging towards the gray dinosaur and ramming his jagged horns into his side. Peter's eyes widened in pain and he roared, releasing Fiona from his grasp and allowing her to slam her strong legs into his chest, which forced him to back up a couple inches. Fiona rose up onto her sturdy legs and let out a roar. Other than a visible bite mark, the sail on her back remained undamaged.

Max dashed towards Peter while the gray dinosaur's attention was on the Styracosaurus that still had its horns lodged in his flank. Max lowered his body to the ground, and opened up his maw wide. He twisted his head so that one side was close to being flat on the ground. Then taking careful aim, and keeping his legs as sturdy as possible, he pushed his large, heavy body forward, and clamped his jaws onto one of Peter's leg. Realizing what was going to happen, Rodger quickly pulled back, dislodging his horns from Peter's side. Max gave a quick pull backward, causing Peter's foot to slip and skid across the dirt. Peter bellowed angrily and went to attack Max. But a flash of bright green and orange blocked his path, and he soon felt talons digging into his face again.

Buzz had soared down and was using his own body to keep Peter from landing a bite on any of his friends. As he kept Peter's head and mouth at bay, Rodger and Fiona looked at each other, and nodded. Max seemed to be onto something. If they couldn't ram him down, maybe, as a team, they could pull on his legs and make him slip. Fiona ran over to one of Peter's other legs. She clenched her crocodile-like jaws around a leg. Ignoring Peter's cry of pain, she began to pull in a different direction than Max was pulling, using all her might to move that leg with her mouth.

Rodger went to a third leg, and proceeded to do the same as his team mates. His beak latched onto Peter's leg like a vice, and he back to pull back on the leg, moving at a slightly faster pace than Fiona or Max. As the three dinosaurs pulled on the legs, Peter kept trying to free himself. He used his head to knock Buzz away, and then tried to bite Max, but Buzz would come back, cawing loudly and pecking at his head with his long sharp beak. The assault would force Peter to rear his head back up.

'You little pests..Let go of me!' Peter demanded, attempting to bite the thin membrane of Buzz's wings. But thanks to being a video game nerd, Buzz used several maneuvers to keep close to Peter while at the same time prevent him from biting him. The villain was growing frustrated, and used his only free leg to pull back in an attempt to free his other three legs.

'I'm sorry, but you aren't going anywhere.' Rodger said as he gave a mighty pull to thwart Peter's attempt at freeing himself. Fiona and Max shared their enthusiasm for Rodger's statement by pulling harder on Peter's legs. There were shallow paths in the ground now from where they were pulling back.

Peter pulled his head away from Buzz again, his eye side glancing at the Spinosaurus below him. His eyes glowed a little brighter as he gave a soft growl. He then started to use the only appendage that was not preoccupied at the time. He lifted his long, whip-like tail and moved it towards Fiona. He was intent on grabbing her and tossing her away, and doing the same with the other two dinosaurs that held his legs. But as he moved his tail toward Fiona, Buzz immediately noticed what he was going to try to do and dove in towards the tail. He clamped his beak down around the same place that Max had bitten him earlier. Peter's eyes started to water in pain and he hollered loudly.

'Everybody, together!' Max shouted. 'Pull as hard as you can!' He had begun to use his powerful Tyrannosaurus Rex jaws to pull. The others followed his lead.

Clenching their jaws, bodies started to tire, nevertheless the three dinosaurs pulled as hard as they could, using every ounce of strength they had left to spare. The gray legs started to skid a little more on the ground, and the speed gradually increased as Peter started to lose more and more balance. He struggled to pull his feet back, but was at the same time distracted by the sheering pain in his tail as Buzz clamped on tighter in an attempt to avert the villain's attention.

As one of Peter's legs jerked violently into one direction, Fiona declared, 'We're almost there! Pull!'

Peter's glowing eyes widened in shock as he realized the Dino Squad were about to tip him over. He felt a new sense of urgency, adrenaline rushing through his body. He started to fling Buzz wildly in the air, constantly smashing him into the ground. Although in obvious pain, Buzz refused to let go. His beak only clamped on tighter, increasing the pain in the sauropod's tail. Peter tossed his head from side to side, trying to brush aside the pain long enough to concentrate on one of the dinosaurs holding his legs. As he lowered his head to bite Max on the head, he felt one of his legs give out from underneath of him. Max quickly let go and backed up quickly as Peter began to topple in his direction. The other two legs gave out as well, causing Peter to lose his balance completely, and start to fall onto his side.

Rodger and Fiona quickly let go of Peter and backed away just as Max had to avoid being hit. As Peter started to fall onto his side, his legs not all in the same position, Buzz released the dinosaur's tail and rapidly beat his wings to rise up higher. He soared down and landed on the ground in next to his friends.

'AAAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!' Peter felt his body crash into the ground with heavy force. Even though he did not fall from any great height, his massive body weight seemed to crush him nevertheless. He felt a few ribs crack from the force of the impact. His head slammed into the ground, kicking up dust and leaving a small cut along the underside of his chin. One of his front legs was splayed out at an angle as he hit the ground, his back legs were bent forward as though he were kneeling down. The other front leg had bent in such a way that when he slammed into the ground his body weight crashed upon it.

CRRRRAAAAAACK!

'YEEEOOOOOOWWW!' Peter cried as he felt a leg bone snap. Within a few seconds, his body started to topple to the side. Another wave of force, although milder than the first, spread through him, cracking another rib as his body finally came to rest on the ground. He let out another cry of pain as he tried to move his now broken left leg. But the slightest movement sent waves of unbearable anguish through his nervous system.

As he rapidly kicked his back legs to try to get up again, the four dinosaurs began to walk towards him from different directions, completely surrounding him. Peter managed to lift his head and look around, and hissed, 'You rotten little animals...' The remark seemed to go almost unnoticed as the Dino Squad continued to close in on him, trying to make a barrier tight enough that he didn't have enough room to get up. While his leg was clearly broken, bent at an odd angle, he could probably still walk on his remaining three legs.

With an animal his size, the Dino Squad could not take any chances of him recovering from a well executed blow like that. So they remained on alert, preparing for a sudden attack if it ever came.

'So now will you tell us where Caruso is?' Fiona asked.

'I don't need to tell you anything!' Peter growled, baring his teeth defensively.

'I'm afraid you do.' Max said, opening his jaws enough to expose his bottom teeth. 'We beat you fair and square.'

Peter shook his head rapidly left to right. 'No! Why don't you children just mind your own business?!'

Rodger snorted, narrowing his eyes. 'You aren't in any condition to give us orders, Peter. Now I suggest you cooperate.' He lowered his nose horn to emphasize his statement, the tip of it aimed for Peter's broad shoulder.

'I don't need to cooperate with you little whelps!' Peter snapped, gnashing his teeth together threateningly. 'Give me one good reason why I should tell you anything!'

Rodger took a step forward. 'Gladly.' He closed his eyes and a glow covered his body as his form shrunk back to that of a human. Peter laughed coldly at this move but Rodger paid him no mind. He went over to his bike, which was hidden behind some trees, and pulled out the large bag that he had stored in it. He unzipped it, and reached in to pull the Chiller and the Spiller. He made his way back to the fallen sauropod, holding up both weapons so he could see them. When Peter's eyes widened a little at the fearsome appearance, Rodger smiled faintly, pointing both at the large creature. "Do you know what these are, Peter?"

The large dinosaur rapidly shook his head. 'No..I don't.' Peter said, trying to sound like he was scared. But his voice betrayed him.

"They are the Chiller and the Spiller. I'm surprised Victor hasn't told you about them. He's encountered prototypes of these, hasn't she?" Rodger didn't know why he asked that question. He didn't believe Peter was even involved with Victor when Moynihan had fought Victor all alone. Just as he thought, Peter attempted to shrug his shoulders, but winced in pain when he put pressure on his broken leg.

Rodger started to contemplate what to do. He wanted to say something that would scare Peter enough into confession. He could tell Peter he might lose his dinosaur form forever if he uses the weapons on him. But then, he doesn't know just how attached he is in this form, and how protective of it he actually is. Would the fear of losing this ability really be scary enough to force him to speak out? Another idea that he had was to lie, to make the weapons seem more dangerous than they actually were. It wouldn't be hard to fool Peter. He already seemed to think they were dangerous just by the appearance. While the Chiller and Spiller were not designed to inflict harm on any living creature, they certainly looked vicious enough to seem to underline a malign purpose.

Rodger placed down the Chiller and held up the Spiller, resting his large finger on the trigger. The other dinosaurs, minus Peter, looked at each other, and were about to say something, but Rodger subtly put his finger to his lip to silence them. "The Spiller here, Peter," Rodger said, "is designed to shoot a hot acidic liquid over the opponent's body, causing severe third-degree burns."

Peter's eyes widened and he pulled his head back in shock. 'Y-You're kidding me!' He cried in disbelief. From what Victor had told him, Moynihan was not the type of person to hold such dangerous weaponry.

Rodger grinned, knowing he got him where he wants him. He lifted up the gun so that the barrel was facing directly at Peter's face. "Do you really want to take that chance...?"

Silence fell upon the group. No one moved much, remaining in their current positions. Peter's glowing yellow eyes locked onto the gun that Rodger held in his hands. Rodger nervously felt for the trigger, trying to make it look like he was threatening to pull it. But he had to make sure he did not pull it all the way. If he did, Peter would see that he was just bluffing and that the Spiller was not really that dangerous. Peter himself was trying to figure out if the african-american was speaking the truth. He continued to eye the weapon and the teen nervously. He could just be pulling some sort of trick. He could just call his bluff.

But then, he himself was in no condition to attack. And what if the boy is actually speaking the truth? If he were to make a move, Rodger could severely burn him. And if he was severely burned and could no longer work, Victor might have a cow. Could he really take that chance? Peter bowed his head, and let out a sigh. He could not see any way out of this other than tell the children what they wanted to hear.

'...fine, I'll tell you.' Peter said, giving into Rodger's threat. As the others leaned in to listen, Peter began to recite to them a sentence. 'Victor took your friend Caruso to his secret hideout.'

'And where is this secret hideout?' Buzz asked.

'I..I don't know...' Peter said, baring his teeth nervously. 'I just know that it's a warehouse of some kind, from what he told me. And it has a lot of failed or incomplete experiments in it. Many different weapons and creatures there too.'

'And just what did Victor say he planned on doing with Caruso when he got there?' Max growled. He and the Dino Squad were already aware of the experimentation part. And while that's bad enough on its own, there was probably more Victor could do to multiply the seriousness and urgency of the situation.

Peter lowered his gaze a little, hesitating slightly before responding. 'He said he was going to subject Caruso to a few of his incomplete weapons to see what effect they would have on dinosaurs. He also said he was going to force Caruso to eat a few of the plants he's successfully regrown to insure that they are safe to eat, and make him fight a few of his new mutantsaurs to test strength and endurance.'

"Doesn't he know that Caruso would just fight back?" Rodger asked, glaring at the big dino. "Caruso isn't the type to just submit himself to stuff like that. He could easily turn into a Stegosaurus and give Victor a run for his money."

Peter nodded. 'Right you are. But Victor anticipated that, and found a solution for that.'

'What kind of solution?' Fiona opened up her jaws to show off her sharp teeth. 'Tell us.'

'He planned do force the boy into obedience.' Peter explained solemnly. 'He was going to subject your friend to extreme pain if he refused to listen. He already had a plan worked out, but I do not know the details of it other than it was cruel and would eventually break the boy's will. And if it doesn't break his will, it could...' His voice trailed off, and he didn't want to continue. A growl from Max forced him to finish. '..kill him...'


	6. Desperation

"What?!" Ms. Moynihan gasped as she held the phone to her ear. It has been around twenty minutes since the Dino Squad got the information they needed from Peter. Rodger had volunteered to take Peter to the hospital. He might have been one of the bad guys, but they couldn't just leave him out here like this. Max had walked someways from the group, walking very slowly, not able to think too clearly. The information that Peter gave him shocked him, especially the last thing he had said. He had decided to call Moynihan and break the news to her.

Ms. Moynihan sounded horrified by what information Max was giving her. Caruso's parents were nearby, and hearing the urgency of her voice made their hearts race, and start to anticipate the worse. As Max relayed a bit more information, Ms. Moynihan closed her eyes and shook her head. "I..I wish I knew where that was, Max. But I never could locate it." She could hear Max groan in disappointment. She could understand his frustration. Peter could have been their lead, but all he could do was provide some information, but no precise location. "Thank you for telling me, dear boy. We'll..think of something. Mothersaurus out."

As she turned the phone off and put it back, she found herself confronted by two worried parents. "What? What did he say?" Amanda asked, her voice shaky. The husband didn't say anything, but from the way he looked at the teacher and held his wife suggested he was just as determined to find out as she was.

Ms. Moynihan wasn't sure how they were going to take the news, but to deny them the information that they so deserved would have been just cruel. They were the boy's parents and were more closely attached to Caruso than the rest of them were. Losing a child is a parent's greatest fear, but an even bigger fear is to have that child disappear and the ultimate fate for them remain unknown.

Old Professor Moynihan exhaled slowly. The parents already knew it was going to be bad news. "That was Max on the phone. They have managed to apprehend Peter and defeat him in battle. The lighthouse is safe. They have also managed to get him to reveal information on what Victor had planned for Caruso. He took Caruso into some sort of warehouse, but unfortunately not even Peter himself knows the exact location of this warehouse."

Moynihan took in a deep breath and waited for one of the parents to say something. But they kept quiet, and urged her, silently, to continue with the solemn message. "It was just as I suspected. Victor plans on subjecting Caruso through a few experimentations. Eating untested food, battling new mutantsaurs, and testing new weapons on him were what Victor had in mind."

Amanda took in a sharp gasp. "Oh no..."

Jack was just as horrified. "W-What else..? Did he say anything else?"

Professor Moynihan nodded slowly. "But I fear it won't provide much comfort. Max said that Peter told them that if Caruso did not allow himself to be subjected to those things, that if he tried to fight back, Victor would inflict bodily harm on him."

"What?!" Jack said, his eyes widened. He jumped out of his seat and took a step back, looking at Moynihan as if she had gone crazy. "He's going to beat my son?!" He could feel the anger rising up in him.

"Oh dear no...not my son.." Amanda whispered, trying hard not to cry.

"And I'm afraid that's not all..." Moynihan said, lowering her gaze. She tried to hold back a tear as she told them more. "Peter said that if the method did not break Caruso's spirit first..it was going to take his life..."

The parents reacted just as Moynihan had suspected. They were absolutely devastated. Amanda broke down crying. Images of her son torn, beaten, and bloody flooded through her mind, and no matter how hard she tried, she could not shake them out. Jack wrapped his strong arms around his wife and held her close. He placed his chin on her hid and allowed her to cry into his chest. He was fighting back his own tears, but it wasn't just sadness he was feeling. He was also very angry. The thought of his son being hurt by some billionaire creep like Victor boiled his blood. He looked at Moynihan and wanted to say something, anything, but no words came out of his mouth. All he could do was continue to huge his wife and try to comfort her.

Moynihan felt terrible about having to tell this to them. And she felt even guiltier knowing she couldn't do anything about it. She wish she could find where Caruso was and bring him back before time ran out. She wished she could say something to the parents to completely ease their pain, but unless she could magically bring Caruso back form a place she's never been to, she would just have to face facts. Caruso's missing, he could die, and there was nothing they could do about it except try to find him. But without a clue, how were they to know where to look? And even if they found where to look, would even that be enough?

"I'm so sorry..." Joanne said to the parents. "I...wish I could have brought better news."

"Oh..it's all right." Mr. Caruso said after a moment's hesitation. "It's not your fault..."

"If it's of any condolence," Moynihan said softly in a reassuring tone, "The Dino Squad and I will do everything in our power to bring your son back. We won't rest until we have found him and brought him back, and we will make sure that Victor doesn't get away with this unpunished."

Although he was still busy comforting his wife, Jack looked up at Moynihan and smiled softly. "Thank you.."

'So...now what?' Buzz asked, still in his dinosaur form. He was glancing towards Fiona, who had detransformed just a few minutes ago and was standing by her Spino-Cycle. Rodger hadn't returned yet, and Max had not come back. They could not leave without them.

"Now..I guess we have to find another way..." Fiona said softly as she lowered herself to the ground and rested her head in her hands.

Buzz slowly shook his head, slowly feeling frustrated. They thought they had a lead. They thought they had a way to find Veloci. But it only turned out to be a dead-end. The feelings of helplessness slowly returned to the punk teenager, causing him to grit his teeth. Peter's inability to help them was bad enough, but his information he had given them was just as bad, if not worse. Buzz could not shake out the images of Caruso dead from his mind. He could see his body on the ground, torn up and bloodied. He closed his eyes tightly and tried not to shed a tear.

Fiona was no better off. She felt like screaming at herself for not being able to free Caruso earlier that day. They had all failed him. They had not succeeded in getting him away from Victor. How could this have happened to them, Fiona wondered. In all the other missions, luck seemed to have been on their side. They managed to defeat Veloci, managed to keep their identities a secret, and none of them ever got seriously hurt. Even some of their parents had found out about them being dinosaurs, and took it quite well.

But now it seemed luck had run out for them. As of late, all they've managed to do was fail. They failed to keep themselves in hiding. Victor had somehow found out about the perfect dinosaurs being teens. He had come to the school to get DNA from Caruso. The Dino Squad failed to stop that. Then the raptor had set up a trap to get Michelle close to the lighthouse. The Dino Squad fell for it. They had also left Moynihan alone in the lighthouse, and she became vulnerable to Michelle's assault, and failed to stop her from destroying the equipment, which not only exposed them on radar but also prevented them from knowing when Victor was coming. And when Victor came, intent on capturing Caruso, the Dino Squad had failed to stop it.

They had tried to set up a computer to find Caruso, but it blew up in their faces. They had managed to defeat Peter and tried to get information from him, but he knew little about the location of the secret warehouse. He did not even know which state it was in. And then there was the hand held tracker. Even if they could find it, it was no guarantee it would work well enough to track down Caruso's signature. And since Veloci now knows just how was blocking his satellites, he could easily do the same to them. He could scramble their signature and render the equipment unusable, no matter how good of a condition it was in.

'Maybe we should head back to the lighthouse when Max and Rodger get back.' Buzz said, stating the obvious. 'There's nothing more we can do here.' His sharp, yellow eyes gazed off at the distance, and briefly, he thought he could see Veloci's truck. A quick shake of the head and reexamination revealed it was just a normal red truck, probably carrying mattresses or different types of food.

"Yeah, I know..." Fiona said and then growled in frustration, digging her fingers into her scalp. "It's just...so frustrating... We were so close.. so close!" Fiona usually doesn't feel anywhere this frustrated unless she was going to that cabin with no electricity or any signs of modern civilization. She understood how much it meant to her parents, and their peanut butter cookies did stop some of Victor's mutations. But she did not understand why they had to go there every year. Revealing the fact that she was a dinosaur helping protect the world did not change her parents' mind about making her come with them. They insisted she needed to spend more time with them, regardless of her dinosaur powers. The only thing that had really changed was her sister, Terri, had grown jealous of Fiona's dinosaur powers. Fiona had recalled how Terri asked her to get dinosaur DNA for her so she could transform, but Fiona had to refuse her request. She did not want to expose her little sister to danger.

'Yeah..I know we were close.' Buzz said, his thought-speech interrupted Fiona's thinking. The large green Pteranodon was standing underneath a tree. As Buzz started to stretch his massive wings, he said, 'But what do you expect to happen? A miracle to just..fall out of the trees or something?' He forced a chuckle, but Fiona was not laughing at his cheap attempt at a joke. He was about to apologize when he felt his wings smack against the tree. A second later, something heavy and hard fell into his head, smacking him pretty good. 'Ouch..what was that..?' He looked at the ground, and changed back into a human.

Fiona chuckled a little at seeing Buzz get smacked in the head after making his lame joke. "So what was it, Neil?" She asked, calling Buzz by his real first name just to tease him a little bit. "An acorn?"

Buzz knelt down on the ground. The item fell into some thick grass. He parted the green blades until he could see the soft dirt underneath. He combed through the flora, scanning the foliage until he could see something hard and metallic glinting in the grass. He reached down, and grabbed it. It felt rectangular, and felt like it had a screen on it. Buzz pulled it out of the grass to get a better look at it. His eyes widened when he realized just what it was. Although it was covered in dirt, obscuring much of the features, there was no mistaking it. It seemed luck had turned in their favor this time.

"Fiona!" Buzz exclaimed, a look of disbelief on his face. "It's...it's..."

The sense of urgency and excitement in Buzz's voice peaked Fiona's interest. She was immediately off the ground and heading towards Buzz to check out just what was so important. She noticed the general shape of the item, but thought it was something else entirely. "What, you found a miniature TV so you and Max can watch your shows?"

Buzz shook his head. "No, it's not a TV Fiona..." He slowly turned to face her, the object held tightly in his hand. He brushed off the dirt from the object, and held it up to Fiona, and when she, too, realized what it was, she placed her hand on her mouth as she gave a sharp sudden gasp. "It's the missing hand held tracker..."

They then heard something crack and snap behind them. They quickly turned around, a bit tensed up as if they thought they had to fight. But they quickly calmed down when they realized it was only Max. The jock had placed his cellphone back in his pocket, and looked pretty glum because of all the negatives that had been occurring lately. Telling Moynihan the bad news did not make him feel any better. "All right guys... let's go..." He said as he headed towards his bike. He had forgotten Rodger still hadn't returned from the hospital, and likely would not be back for another ten minutes or so.

Max glanced back at Fiona and Buzz, and gestured towards their bikes. "What are you waiting for? We have to get back to the lighthouse. There's nothing else of use for us out here."

"Umm..Max...?" Fiona spoke slowly, a smile working its way on her face. "There actually is something of interest here."

"What?" Max asked, snapping to attention. "What is it?" He glanced over at Buzz, who appeared to be grinning broadly. He shifted position and held up the tracker in front of him in a place where Max could clearly see it. A wave of shock swept through him, and his heart started to race. He was in disbelief as he stared at the tracker that had been missing for a few days. The only equipment that Michelle had not gotten her hands on. The only device still in tact that could be used to find their missing friend. What were the odds of them to find it way out here? Max felt his hands shaking as he approached Buzz and reached out to grab the hand held tracker. "Guys..where did you find this?"

"It fell out of a tree." Buzz said. He looked up at the tree where the tracker fell out of and rubbed the back of his head where it had struck him.

"No joking Buzz!" Max scolded. "Seriously, where did you find this?"

"He wasn't joking, Max." Fiona started to explain in a serious tone. "It really did fall out of a tree."

Buzz continued to rub his head on the area where the object had smacked him. He glanced up at the tree he had been unfortunate and yet fortunate at the same time to have been standing under. "Yeah..and my head still hurts from it landing on my head."

"Well we've got to tell Ms. Moynihan!" Max said, trying to level his excitement and keep it from overwhelming him. His hands were so shaky he was afraid he would drop the device and destroy it. "Come on, let's go!"

"But..." Buzz looked off into the distance where Rodger had ran off in. "What about Rodger? He isn't back yet." They would still need to wait a few minutes before Rodger could come back. The hospital was still a good distance away.

"Well, I'll call him on his cellphone." Fiona suggested as she pulled out her cellphone. As she opened it up, she said, "You guys can go back to the lighthouse. Rodger and I will catch up."

Max nodded. "All right... if you are sure." The jock said, nodding to the redhead before turning to his Tyranno-Cycle.

"Just don't step on the tracker, okay Maxwell?" Fiona joked as she started to dial Rodger's number. Max had ruined one of their spare trackers because he had not looked where he was going, and stepped on it with his Tyrannosaurus foot. Even though it was just an accident and Ms. Moynihan had pretty much forgotten about it, Fiona hadn't let Max forget that little blunder. "We don't want to have to clean up after your mess again."

"Oh very funny..." Max growled softly as he revved his motorcycle and sped off, not saying another word to Fiona.

"See you later Fiona." Buzz said as he got on his Ptera-Cycle. He decided not to comment on what Fiona had said to Max about stepping on the tracker. He had to admit, it was a pretty funny statement, but he was afraid that she could have jinxed them by saying something like that. Maybe Max could very well step on this tracker too. As he turned the bike on, and the engines turned on, he turned to her and said, "I really hope we don't get anymore bad luck." He revved his motorcycle and followed Max as they headed back to the lighthouse.

Fiona leaned against her Spino-Cycle, and held her phone to her ear. She could hear the ring tone, and groaned, wondering why Rodger had poor taste in ring tones. Would it kill him to get a cooler, much better sounding ring tone than a beeping sound reminiscent of a computer game? She felt relieved when she heard a click and the sound disappeared, replaced by a familiar voice. "Hello, Rodger. It's me, Fiona. Why did I call? Well it's kind of..no it's very important!" Rodger did not sound happy at first. Fiona had forgotten that Rodger does not really like to use his cellphone a lot, and only permitted people to call him if it was an emergency. He was asking Fiona if she had forgotten that. "No, I did not forget! Listen, Rodg, you're not going to believe this..." She said as she glanced back at the tree, still wondering how the tracker had gotten there in the first place. "Buzz found that missing hand held tracker!"

Fiona had to quickly pull her cellphone away when Rodger's elevated voice shouted in disbelief, and demanded to know where they had found it. "It fell out of a tree and hit Buzz in the head. ...How did it get there? I don't know!" Fiona shrugged her shoulders. "It was just..there. I don't know who..or what put it there! ...The others aren't here right now. They just left to take the tracker to Ms. Moynihan. Did we test it? No... I guess we were too excited to even make sure it still worked... I'm sorry." Fiona felt like smacking herself in the face. Why hadn't they tested the device to make sure it still worked? This discovery could just lead to another major disappointment.

"Okay, okay Rodg! I'll tell them!" Fiona said, rubbing her forehead as Rodger scolded her for negligence. "I'll see you back at the lighthouse. Bye!" She quickly said before Rodger could get another word in edgewise. She shut the phone off and put it back in her pocket. She quickly climbed onto her motorcycle, and hopped onto it. She quickly turned it on and began to head back to the lair, where the others were most likely waiting for her. She looked up at the sky, and realized it was getting dark out. She could already see the moon starting to rise, the sun was close to the horizon. She closed her eyes, and whispered as she headed off, "Caruso...we'll find you."

At first, Caruso followed Victor, although unwillingly, for fear the raptor would pull on the rope and send another wave of electricity through his body. He stayed close behind Victor, his head bowed in submission. He hadn't attempted to talk again because if he did, he would hurt himself even more. He could not bring himself to look directly at Victor. His gaze was on the ground. The corridor lead straight towards his room, so he did not need to worry about sudden turns or tripping. He slowly raised his hand and placed it on the headpiece. He felt the cold metal on his fingertips, the sharp edge cutting into him. He whimpered softly, and lowered his hand down.

He could have tried to remove the device himself, but it was well secured to his body. The headpiece was held in place with straps that went across his shoulders and waist. The device was secured so tightly that if he pushed his head forward to get a good look at the waist and shoulder straps to determine how to remove them, they would put pressure on the head piece and pull it even further downward into his skin. And he was not strong enough to break the waist and shoulder straps anyway. He would have to be in Stegosaurus mode. But that wouldn't do much good for him.

The Stegosaurus form might relieve some pressure in the head region, but it would make removing the device impossible. He had no arms in that form, and he suspected that when he transforms, his tail would be bound in some form, perhaps by the bridle itself. Caruso would need someone to remove the bridle for him, but unfortunately all his allies were still at the lighthouse probably, which no way of locating him. Caruso could only hope of holding out against the pain long enough for the others to find him.

Caruso hadn't realized that, in his pondering, his pace had slowed down, and it hadn't gone unnoticed by Victor. Scowling at the boy's slowing gait, he pulled on the device lightly to get his attention. "Hurry it up. We're almost back at your cell." Victor said, narrowing his eyes. Caruso seemed to understand the meaning of that gesture and quickened his pace to catch up to Victor. Satisfied, Victor turned around and continued to advance towards the door, which was now within view.

He gazed down at the boy briefly, and turned his attention back on the path of the corridor, smirking to himself. He began to think of what he should do with Caruso tomorrow. He could tell the boy was not completely broken yet. And he did not know how long it would take before his spirit could be crushed. Victor did not always have the best patience, especially when it comes to his dream of bringing back the dinosaurs. He wanted to put some of his experiments to the test as soon as possible, but he could not do that until Caruso was finally broken and forced to obey him...or could he?

The more he thought about it, the more Victor came to realize that perhaps he did not need to fully break Caruso after all. If he could at least force him into dinosaur form, he could subject Caruso through experiments in a closed area so that he could not escape. His cell would probably have to do. It was large enough for his Stegosaurus form, he thought. He glanced down at the boy again, and looked at the bit cutting into the boy's mouth. He frowned a bit. If Caruso was going to be subjected to the experiments, he would need his strength, in other words food and water. But he doubted the boy could eat much of anything with the bit in his mouth.

"When we get into the cell, boy," Victor said to Caruso, "I'll remove the war bridle." This statement made Caruso's eyes widen a little with anticipation and relief. "But only because I know you need food and water. You'll need your strength for tomorrow, trust me, kid." He did not need to turn around and face Caruso to know the boy's expression was that of fear. There was a sense of dreadful foreboding growing up inside the young human. "Don't even think about getting too comfortable when I remove the war bridle off of you, Irwin. It's just for tonight. Tomorrow morning, at dawn, it goes back on you. You understand me?"

Caruso made no initial response. He simply stared at the floor, pondering what Victor might have in store for him the next day. A sharp pull on the rope brought him out of his thoughts, and he looked up at Victor. Those dark eyes stared at him, narrowed, waiting for an answer. Caruso knew he had best not keep Victor waiting unless he wanted him pulling on that rope like he had before. The young teen slowly nodded his head, keeping his head low. If he could, he would have given a verbal answer. But the bit inside forced him to use a physical response instead.

Victor smiled, his expression softening a little. "Good."

Within a few seconds, he had reached the door that lead into Caruso's chamber. Opening up the door he roughly shoved the boy into the room. Caruso landed onto the ground with a loud thud. But he didn't attempt to get back up. Instead he strained his head to look up at Victor. The reason Caruso hadn't attempted to get up was because he was resting on his good arm, and the only way he could get up was if he pushed up with his injured one. But he was still in pain from that first wound Victor inflicted on him. The bleeding had stopped, but the pain hadn't subsided. It hurt just to move the arm.

Victor narrowed his eyes, sensing this. "Pathetic creature.. You get one little cut and you act completely helpless..." He knelt down beside the boy and gripped him by his shirt collar. He leaned his face real close and spoke harshly to Caruso, "You will never last in the dinosaur world." His sharp teeth were bared as he said this.

With a swift pull, Victor yanked Caruso roughly to his feet. The teen staggered a little from the force, but managed to regain his footing quickly. He could see the open door behind Victor, and the urge to run off again came over him. But this time there was something holding him back, something to give him a reason not to run. And he was wearing it right this minute. All Caruso could do now was stare longingly at the open door, wanting to run but not being able to. Victor could see this spark of hopelessness in the kid's eyes and smiled.

Reaching out with his hands to unfasten the bridle, Victor said, "You look like you are finally starting to understand your position, Caruso boy." Caruso winced as Victor called him that. "You're not in your safe little lighthouse anymore. You are not out in the open. You are not with any of your companions. You are without your motorcycle and equipment. You are in my domain now, boy. And if you know what is good for you, you will listen to me." As he said this, he had undid the strap that held the bridle in place. He pulled the head piece off the boy, the saliva-covered bit slipping out with ease. He removed the other parts of the bridle and held them with one arm.

Caruso carefully opened his jaws and placed a finger inside. He gently pressed on one of the cuts on his tongue, ignoring the stinging pain the best he could, and pulled out his finger to take a look. The whole front tip of his pointer was coated bright red. His eyes widened in shock as he started to taste something salty inside his mouth. Without the bit inside to cover most of his tongue, he was starting to taste the blood that was seeping out of multiple small cuts inside his mouth. When he looked at the bit attached to the head piece, Caruso stifled a gasp, noticing that parts of the bit, specifically on the bottom, were coated in dark red blood.

Caruso slowly opened his jaws to speak. He ignored the pain he was feeling as he moved his tongue. "Why...should I...listen to...you?" Every time he spoke a word, he could feel a sharp pain wave through his mouth. It was like he was eating broken glass for dinner.

"Why...?" Victor asked this as though he was surprised Caruso even thought of asking this. "Take a good look around you, boy." He said, looking around the area himself. An arrogant smile spread across his face. "You're trapped. You have no where to run, nowhere to hide."

"I...was trapped..by you before... I escaped..." Caruso spoke defiantly. Even after enduring the bridle, he still had some courage left in him. "In..in fact.. all of us did..."

"You speak of the time when I had captured all five of you?" Victor inquired, getting a nod from Caruso as a response. He frowned softly. The memory of that brought feelings of frustration to Victor. He had caught all five of the perfect dinosaurs right then and there. He could have brought them back to the lab for testing. They could not have gone anywhere. Even in dino mode, they would not have been strong enough to break open the bars and set themselves free. And in human form they wouldn't have been small enough to get through the spaces of the bars.

Victor could not think of what possessed him not to be suspicious of the students that had somehow gotten into the cage. Why had he not tested their DNA? His only answer to that was, at this time, Victor couldn't really believe that any human would have the intelligence needed to master the dinosaur form and the art of transforming so easily. And he so determined to insure that these kids would not sue him to even think about questioning them. Just what were they doing way out there? He had wondered this a bit after the encounter, but he knew the answer now.

Victor narrowed his eyes slightly. "Yes of course you escaped, boy. But that was only because you had your friends to back you up." He took a quick look around the room before returning his gaze to the injured teenager. "You're all alone now. There's no one here to save you. This is no fairy tale, little Caruso." He took a step closer. Instinctively, Caruso took a step back, half-expecting Victor to strike out at him with his sickle claw again. "This is real life..." His free hand and arm glowed and were replaced with his raptor limb. He raised it up, the claws extended, to prove his point. Caruso immediately took a step back without really thinking about it.

Satisfied the boy seemed to understand his situation better, Victor pulled out his communicator and contacted one of his followers that was in the warehouse. As he began to speak to him, Caruso walked over to what appeared to be a long flat boulder stationed near the corner of the room. He slowly sat down on it and rested his head on the palms of his hands. He winced as the sharp pain shot through his injured arm, but it quickly subsided. His gaze was to the ground, his eyes a bit vacant. He was not sure what to think anymore. He was doing his best to remain brave and defiant. He did not want Victor to taste victory in 'taming' him.

But, although he hated to admit it, Victor did have a good point. Caruso was all alone in this warehouse. He didn't have anyone to help him. He had no one to discuss any escape plans with. Everyone was against him here. If he had stepped foot outside the room, it surely would not take long before he would run into one of Veloci's men and be brought back here. He could go dino and try to break out of the room, but the walls were made of a thick metal. Not even Max would be able to break through it, so there was no way he could.

As Victor continued to speak with whoever it was he had just contacted, Caruso slowly closed his eyes and let out a soft sigh. Perhaps he should just give into Victor's will. Maybe he should just surrender to avoid being hurt again. Maybe Victor would consider releasing him when his usefulness had expired. Yes, that's it. He should just give himself up, allow Victor to do whatever he pleased with him, and then release him, and then Caruso could go find his friends...

No! No, what was he thinking?! He shouldn't think like that! Caruso shook his head to bring himself back to his senses. He formed fists with his hands as he glared at Victor with determination. He shouldn't give himself up to this monster. He would have to bide his time yes. If he waited until the right moment to strike, maybe he would have a new chance at escape. All he would have to do was wait until tomorrow when he believed Victor would take him out into another part of the warehouse to endure the first experiments, and make his move then.

If he pretended that he was giving in, he could get close enough to Victor to land a blow, the element of surprise with him. It was a risky idea, Caruso knew. He would only have one shot at it. After that, Victor surely would not fall for the same thing again. Caruso would have to make sure the first shot counted. He did not want to think of what would happen to him if this plan failed...

"Caruso," Irwin heard Victor call out to him. "I have some important business to attend to. I am going to leave the door open so one of my men can come in to give you something to eat and drink. Don't even think of trying to escape. I have all my men in this warehouse on guard and patrolling all the corridors and rooms of this building. If you even set foot outside the door, someone will know and catch you. You understand me, human?"

Caruso simply nodded his head. "Y-Yes..."

"Good... And one more thing," Victor said as he turned to face the door. "If I find out that you have walked outside your cell even after listening to my warning..." He showed Caruso his raptor-like hand once again, raised in a slashing position. "I may have to give you a more urgent reason to stay put..."

"All right..." Caruso managed to say, his anger quickly replaced with fear as he stared wide-eyed at the sharp claws. Although these claws did not look as dangerous as the sickle claws on Victor's dinosaur feet, Caruso still trembled at the sight of them. These claws were designed for grasping and holding prey. If Victor gripped him with these claws, he would not be able to escape without hurting himself. The claws would scrape along him, making several long cuts. "I...I won't try to escape..."

"Wise choice." Victor stepped out of the room. He took another glance at Caruso. "Someone will be here shortly. After you are done, I suggest you go to sleep and get plenty of rest. Tomorrow, you will endure your first experiment. I'll be nice this time and use a mild experiment this time. But don't think I will go soft on you again after that." Victor didn't bother to tell Caruso that this mild experiment would still have him screaming in pain. But it was like a light tap on the shoulder compared to another experiment he had planned for the boy.

"Finally it's over!" Oscura said as she stretched her arms. The lights in the room flickered back on. Many employees scooted their chairs back and stood up, stretching their stiff limbs after sitting for a few hours watching movies. Oscura had not really liked any of the movies that were playing. But the room had become so crowded that she was not able to squeeze herself out. She had to give a few warning hisses to some employees because they were pushing her up against the wall. Just how the room went from a few individuals enjoying a movie to a room as tightly packed as a sardine can was beyond her.

People slowly began to leave the room, and Oscura felt herself relax as more and more room became available. She went back to her chair and sat down when enough room was freed. Still remaining in her seat next to Oscura's was Michelle. She was watching the other people as they walked out of the room. But taking a glance at the look in Michelle's eyes told Oscura that this girl was not thinking about anything involving the people in the room or the movies that were on. Her mind was wandering somewhere else. It would appear something was troubling her, and Oscura did not even need to ask what it was.

"You're thinking about him again aren't you?" Oscura asked, a little bit of a growl emerging as she finished the sentence. She had always considered Michelle to be the weaker of the pair. But she was becoming even softer since Caruso's capture. There was something about that boy that was changing her partner, making her weaker. And Oscura was not liking it. When she got no response, she hissed, "Will you stop thinking about that Caruso kid for once?!"

This sudden outburst quickly snapped Michelle back to reality. She looked over at her partner with wide eyes for a few seconds before contorting her face into a snarl, her dinosaurian teeth bared. "I was not thinking about him, okay?!" She snapped, defending herself. "So why don't you just drop the subject?!"

Oscura tilted her head, the same glare still plastered across her face. "I'm growing sick of this, Michelle. Ever since we captured the kid, you have grown soft!" She quickly got up from her seat and pointed her finger accusingly at the brunette. "Admit it, you traitor!" She shouted at her without really thinking of her choice of words all that well. "You're so concerned about this Caruso kid that you are willing to betray us just for his benefit!"

Michelle's eyes widened at the words traitor and betray. Her mind reeled back to the strange dream she had. She still shuddered at the quotes Oscura had quoted in the dream. Her thoughts brought back a statement Oscura had said in the dream. She had mentioned something about Victor being worried that she would betray them. After she woke up, she dismissed it as a dream. She didn't really see any reason why Victor would suspect her betraying them. He had never acted in any particular way to make her believe he was suspicious of her. She herself had never given him a reason to believe she would turn on him.

But hearing Oscura restate this make her rethink the dream. Was it just a coincidence? Or was the dream a message of things to come? Was it a warning of sorts? Maybe Victor had noticed her behavior changing, and had linked it to Caruso's capture. If he was now a bit suspicious of her, he will probably keep a closer watch on her now. Maybe he will have someone follow her around, or even put a tracker on her...

No...no he wouldn't go that far, Michelle thought. Or would he? Maybe he had assigned Oscura to keep an eye on her, to monitor her behavior and to report to him if she saw anything suspicious. Maybe that's why Oscura had been on her case a bit more frequently today. This was not the first time she had brought up Caruso with her, not the first time she's scolded her for allowing her thoughts to drift back to him. Michelle narrowed her eyes further, becoming a bit agitated at this thought. The last thing she wanted was this Troodon girl to be shadowing her everywhere.

"No! I won't admit it!" Michelle shouted, slamming a fist onto the table swiftly and loudly. "First of all, I have not grown soft! Second of all, I am no traitor! And finally, I don't give a darn what happens to Caruso! So stop acting like I care about him!" After yelling, she tried to calm herself down through slow breaths, but Oscura was not going to give her the opportunity to let her anger die down.

Oscura's narrowed eyes widened in shock, and she snapped her head back, teeth bared, another behavior she adopted from her Troodon self. As she did so, she let out a 'Hah!' kind of sound. She took a step back, and drool started to dribble down the corner of her mouth. Michelle recognized this behavior. Oscura usually only did this when she was so angry that she would rather bite than talk. Usually when this happened, she would try to calm Oscura down to avoid a fierce fight, but this time she just stared at her, her own dinosaur teeth bared.

"Who are you to order me around?!" Oscura yelled. She pulled an arm outward, and up, like a raptor would, and showed her claws to Michelle. "You have no authority over me! You do not have the right to order me around, Michelle!" She wasn't afraid to attack Michelle, and she knew Michelle knew that too.

"And if I recall correctly, you do not have the authority to order me around either, Oscura!" Michelle yelled back, her eyes beginning to glow. She could feel the anger rising up in her.

"Whatever." Oscura rolled her eyes slowly. "That does not mean I cannot question you when you start to daydream about your Stegosaurus boyfriend!"

Now it was Michelle's turn to have saliva streaming from the corner of her lips. She also adopted this behavior from the Guanlong Wucaii, but used it less frequently. She usually had better control of her temper compared to Oscura, and only used it when she was extremely angry. And Oscura was rubbing her the wrong way today, and she was not going to stop. Michelle's body started to shake visibly as she tried desperately to control the anger. But it kept gnawing at her stomach and insides. Now she could see no other outlet except...

As a drop of saliva landed on the table, Michelle wiped her mouth, and said, "Why you..." Her talons grew from the tips of her fingers as she slowly got up from her seat. Oscura looked at her with a puzzled look, unsure of what she was going to do. Deciding to answer Oscura's question before she asked it, Michelle hissed, "I'll show you..." With that, she lunged forward, and slammed against Oscura. The raven-haired teen was knocked backwards and tripped over a chair and landed on her back.

Feeling a rush of adrenaline, Oscura jumped back up and gripped Michelle's shoulders, digging her talons into the skin. She avoided biting Michelle simply because she did not want to get into trouble with Dr. Veloci for poisoning a fellow Raptor Dyne employee. Her claws would do just fine for the fight. She attempted to push Michelle onto the ground, but the other girl held her ground. She winced in pain as she felt the claws dig into her shoulders, and she could see a bit of blood come through. Michelle attempted to defend herself by swinging her arms around Oscura's body and shoving her claws into Oscura's back.

Oscura stifled a scream, and tried to ignore the pain as she continued to slash into Michelle's shoulders and tried to push her down. Michelle did likewise, baring her teeth close to Oscura's face and vice versa. The two avoided biting each other however, preferring to stick to their claws rather than their teeth. They kept pushing into one another, and eventually both began to give out, dropping to their knees. At first glance one would think they were trying to comfort each other. But one look at the blood seeping from each teenager would quickly debunk that theory.

The fight was not an attempt to kill each other. It closely resembled a dominance fight that Veloci had told them about once. He explained that Velociraptors fought for dominance not through biting, but through clawing and demonstration of strength. If Oscura and Michelle were going to agree upon which one of them would have the higher authority, they would do so through this dominance fight.

Suddenly they both released each other, and got up off the ground. They took a few steps back, their eyes glued on each other. They transformed into their respective dinosaur forms and began to walk around each other, watching the other, trying to find a weakness. They bobbed their bodies and heads up and down in a bird-like manner, their hands raised upward, the claws facing forward threateningly. They continued to circle each other in the room, careful not to trip over any chairs or the table. Their eyes glowed intensely as they both anticipated the other one to attack first, anticipated that soon the other would sink their teeth in.

After a few minutes of this behavior, Oscura decided to make the first move. The red Troodon jumped into the air, extending her forearms outward to take a hold of Michelle. But the black Guanlong Wucaii anticipated this and quickly moved herself out of the way. When Oscura was close enough, she pulled her black paw upward and delivered a blow onto the Troodon's back, knocking her onto the ground belly-first.

Oscura shook her long neck and head before climbing to her feet and letting out a screech, bits of saliva flying everywhere. She held out her arms as if to hug, and approached Michelle slowly, letting out several bird-like squawks to try to intimidate Michelle. The Guanlong, however, remained unfazed. She returned the calls with sounds that were more ferocious than a Troodon could dish out. The Guanlong calls were more guttural, like a lion's, and sounded more threatening. The Troodon seemed to sense this, and stopped advancing for a moment. Then, quickly, she raised one of her long legs and struck at Michelle with one of her diminutive sickle claws.

Thinking fast, Michelle held up one of her feet and, using her long dewclaw, gripped the red-skinned leg and tossed Oscura aside. The Troodon crashed into the ground, and once again scrambled to her feet. She hissed at the Guanlong, and raced in to attack again. The Guanlong lowered her head in anticipation, her teeth bared. Her arms were also held outward in attack mode, bracing for the assault the Troodon was going to deliver.

The two collided with each other, and began to wrestling each other across the floor, becoming a blur of colors, claws, hisses, and growls. They dug their claws into each other, slashing away at any available skin they came in contact with. They kicked and slashed as they fought to pin the other one to the ground. They snapped at each other frequently, but deliberately missing, instead just trying to intimidate the other. They knocked over a few chairs and even almost knocked over the table as they continued to grapple each other.

Eventually, Michelle managed to pin Oscura onto her side. The Troodon struggled to get free, but Michelle's bodyweight kept her down. She held Oscura firmly by sitting on top of her and using her forepaws to push her into the ground. The Troodon snapped at the air, hissed and growled, and kicked her feet violently, trying in desperation to land a blow onto the Guanlong Wucaii. But the black dinosaur ignored any wound inflicted on her at this point, and simply lowered her head close to Oscura's and hissed.

In anger, Oscura snapped her jaws in Michelle's direction, causing the Guanlong to jerk her head backwards to avoid the bite. 'Let go of me!' She demanded, snapping her jaws once again, releasing another squawk.

'Only if you surrender.' Michelle answered.

'Never!' Oscura squirmed under Michelle's bodyweight. 'Just release me at once!'

Michelle shook her crested head. 'I am sorry, Oscura.' She said, although she did not really feel sorry. 'I cannot release you until you surrender. That is the rule of the dominance fight.'

Oscura let out a loud screech of agitation and struggled more violently and desperately. She did not want to admit defeat to this..this weakling. Oscura was frustrated that the rules would not allow her to bite. If she did she would be disqualified. She did not know and did not understand why Victor's kind didn't allow biting. It could easily turn the tide in the fight. With her infectious bite, she could easily defeat Michelle.

But the fight was to be interrupted. As Oscura struggled on the floor, the door knob jiggled, and the two dinosaurs snapped their heads over and could see a figure on the other side. Not wanting to be caught in the act of fighting, they quickly changed back into their human selves, and brushed themselves off. Unfortunately they could not hide the blood that was starting to stain their clothes now. And they did not have time to cover it up. The door swung open, and a figure dressed in black and wearing a helmet stepped in. It was one of Veloci's men.

"Hey," the man said as he walked into the room. "I got a message from Dr. Veloci." He took notice of the blood stains, and snapped his head back in shock. "What the heck happened to you two?"

"Nothing..nothing." Michelle said quickly. "So what does Veloci want us for?"

Time had ticked by slowly in the lighthouse. Jack looked over at the clock nearby. While not much time had passed, it had seemed like an eternity. Like Moynihan and his wife, he was sitting patiently, awaiting for the children to return. It had been sometime since they got a phone call from one of the children, and there was no good news they could bring to them. Jack leaned in the chair, his elbows on the table. He stared blankly at the table, refusing to look at his wife, sitting behind him on the furniture because he couldn't stand seeing her this way. Amanda hadn't said much in the past several minutes, and her tears couldn't stop flowing, despite comforting statements from Jack and Joanne.

Jack eyed the door slowly, almost expecting it to open up and see the Dino Squad return empty-handed. But no one was coming, and he didn't expect them to return anytime soon. He started to think of what a normal day this had started out as. His son had woken up earlier today to get ready for a meeting. Because of his vain personality, Irwin took great care in his appearance, and always took a bath in the morning. He wouldn't go outside until he looked perfect, at least in his eyes. Jack sometimes felt Irwin took too much pride in his appearance, but he felt it was a bit better than someone who could care less about their appearance and not clean themselves up that often.

He recalled how Irwin said he had to get to the lighthouse for some special training. It wasn't supposed to last all day. When his wife was doing the dishes, Irwin was due back any minute. They hadn't realized, then, that something was very very wrong. Sure, his wife did suspect something was wrong, but she wouldn't have believed, in her wildest dreams, that this is what had happened. Jack started regretting letting his son go out today. He wished he had forced him to stay home. Maybe then this would not have happened...

But then, maybe one of the other kids would have gotten captured. He flinched a bit, realizing that he would have unintentionally wished his son's fate on one of the other kids. He couldn't do that. As much as he loved Irwin, he also would not have wanted the other kids to get captured either. That would have been unfair on his part. And he didn't blame the other kids either. After all, they did do their best to save his son. While they failed, they still put up a great fight. Jack placed his head on his arms, folded on the table, and sighed softly. He was suddenly feeling a painful gnawing in his stomach as he thought about how they had blown their chances at finding Irwin because they had forgotten to put in the fan in the monitor. But then, even if it had been able to turn on, would it have worked? Would they have been able to find Veloci or would their signal have been blocked?

Deciding to take his mind off of what happened, Jack Caruso pushed his seat out from the table and stood up. He turned towards Moynihan, who had gotten back to her knitting, although she was doing it very slowly. Jack suspected it was because she was thinking about what happened today, and was feeling guilty she wasn't a better help. He eyed her ankle, which still looked red, but a bit better than it was earlier. Her cane was set next to her chair for easy grabbing. He strode over to her slowly, and sat down on the couch his wife was on. Amanda, however, was too distracted by her feelings of loss to notice him next to her.

Ms. Moynihan sensed someone looking at her, set down her knitting stuff, and looked up to see Jack staring at her. She tried to offer a small smile, but couldn't bring herself to do so, considering the circumstances. "Yes?" She asked, already knowing Jack was going to ask her something judging from the look in his eyes.

"Ms. M... I was just wondering.." Jack said slowly, sounding unsure of how to say it. Moynihan didn't say anything, instead slightly tilting her head, awaiting for him to continue. Jack gulped. He wasn't sure if this was a great time to ask this, or if Moynihan would have been offended by the question. But he wouldn't really know until he'd ask it. "Out of curiosity, just what were things like between you and..Victor before you two, well, split ways?"

Ms. Moynihan's eyes widened at that question, and she quickly looked at the floor, looking rather troubled. Jack took a step back, already feeling guilty about asking the question in the first place. Moynihan didn't say anything, only kept her gaze on the floor, looking at her ankle that Victor had broken thirty years ago. Her gaze was filled with some anger as she stared at it, but there was a mix of other feelings, such as sadness and betrayal. She could feel those bitter feelings inside of her all over again. Her mind backtracked to the days when she and Victor were partners, and how all that changed all because of difference in opinions. She often wondered why she ever considered Victor a good friend. If she had known the monster he was going to become...

"Dear, why did you ask her that?" Amanda asked her husband, finally snapping herself back to reality just as she heard her husband ask Joanne such a personal question. And judging from her reaction, it was a rather troubling question at that.

Jack looked away, regretting asking in the first place. "I-I'm sorry... I..."

"It's all right..." Joanne raised her hand up, though the pained look was still on her face. "I'm not angry with you asking me that, Jack. It's just...painful sometimes for me to think of how things used to be between me and Victor." She glanced down at the necklace she wore around her neck, and fingered the claw-shaped piece that lay center on her chest. It had originally been a gift from Victor himself, but she had made some modifications to it. "Time does not heal all wounds, I'm afraid."

"Was that from Victor?" Jack asked carefully, eyeing the necklace.

Moynihan slowly nodded her head. She glanced back down at the necklace, drawing in a breath as she stared at the necklace once more. She only kept it around for sentimental reasons. She longed for who Victor was before he became obsessed with wiping humans off the face of the Earth, who he was before he grew too powerful and before he began experimenting with DNA to change life back to how it was sixty-five million years ago. Victor hadn't always been this way. He had always hated humans yes, but he wasn't always so determined to change things back. He wasn't always such a...monster.

"This was a gift Victor gave me..for our anniversary." Joanne said softly.

"Anniversary..for what?" Amanda asked before she could stop herself.

"Wedding anniversary." Joanne stated softly, looking up and staring at Jack and Amanda as she said this. Their reactions were just as she expected. They looked horrified, and moved back a little. She could not blame them. They knew she was once partners with Victor, but she had never told anyone, not even the Dino Squad, that they were once mates. Sixty-five million years ago, they never did have any children, no eggs to call their own, and when they awoke after their long hibernation, they became too busy with trying to fit in rather than starting a family.

"You never told us that you and Victor were...husband and wife." Jack said, trying his best not to sound so frightened.

"You needn't be afraid, Mr. Caruso." Joanne assured him. "As I told your son before, I parted ways with Veloci long ago."

"But..." Amanda spoke up. "Why didn't you tell us this before?"

Ms. Moynihan lowered her head slightly. "I..was afraid of what you would think of me. I never told anyone this because I didn't know if they would trust me anymore." She closed her eyes for a few seconds then reopened up, looking at Jack and Amanda in the eyes. "For over thirty years, I have concealed the truth of my past from everyone. Your son and his friends were the first people I had confided in, the first people I spoke the truth with. It was a risky move, and I had feared they wouldn't trust me again after that. To my relief, they accepted me for who I was now, and still trusted me."

Jack nodded once, and raised a finger up. "So..if they trusted you, why didn't you tell them then?"

"It was too early. I did not think they were ready to hear it." Moynihan responded.

"And what about now?" Jack asked, his finger still raised up, although he wasn't pointing accusingly at Moynihan. "It's been a couple years now, Prof. Moynihan. Don't you think it's about time you told them? Why still keep it a secret?"

Moynihan looked away, feeling uneasy to answer that question. "Frankly, this isn't the only secret I've kept from them..." She quickly realized what she said, and swiftly added, "But time for that will come later." She could tell that Caruso's parents were going to inquire her on her previous statement, and she hoped that saying that she'll talk about it later will satisfy them and they won't ask her further. She decided to go back to Jack's original question. "So you want to know what things were like before Victor and I parted ways?"

Just then, the phone started to ring, interrupting Jack's response. Moynihan looked over at it, along with Caruso's parents, and felt nervous to pick it up. It was probably Max again, bringing more bad news. The phone rang again as Moynihan's fingers trembled above the receiver, hesitating to pick it up. If it was more bad news, she didn't know if she could bear to give the news to Caruso's parents, further shattering their spirits. But regardless if it was bad news or not, if it was the Dino Squad, she couldn't simply ignore the call. What kind of mentor and tutor would she be if she did that?

Hesitatingly, Joanne wrapped her fingers around the receiver and picked it up. She held it to her ear and said, "Hello...?" The nervousness in her voice was apparent, and she waited for the few nanoseconds it would take to get a response. She was expecting to hear Max's voice, or Fiona's, Rodger's, or Buzz's. But the voice on the other end was neither of the kids, and yet it was someone she recognized right away. A scowl appeared on her face, one unfamiliar to Caruso's parents, or even the Dino Squad. "Victor..." She hissed. "What do you want?"

She could hear that cold laughter on the other end, and she flinched. It bared a striking resemblance to the laughter she had received after he'd broken her leg. She felt a sharp pain in her heart as she felt the memories flowing back to her. After Victor was done laughing, he began to talk to Moynihan, his voice in a mocking and sneering tone. Moynihan gritted her teeth as Victor began to taunt her about her not being able to find Caruso, and had asked her how her leg was doing. "That is none of your business!" She growled. "And what have you done with Caruso?!"

Again Moynihan could hear that dark laughter. It took all her might not to throw the phone to the floor in anger. "I do not see what is so funny, Victor! You have committed a very serious offense! ...What offense? Kidnapping a child of course!" Victor had always had the belief that just because he was very powerful and high-ranking it automatically meant he was also above the law, and could do whatever he wanted. The only time he would abide by the law was if it was to save himself some trouble. "Why did you bother calling me anyway, Victor? To taunt me?"

Surprisingly, Victor hadn't initially called her just to taunt her. He had something else in mind. He told her he'd called to give her a warning. Her angered expression turned into shock as Victor began to tell her that Caruso was in pretty bad shape and if she and her Dino Squad friends did not hurry up, it may be too late. After that, Victor bid her farewell and hung up. "Wait!" She yelled, but it was too late. The phone clicked, and she got the dial tone.

"What...what was that?" Jack asked carefully. He knew Moynihan had just gotten off the phone with Victor, and judging from her angered and shocked expressions, it was a none too pleasant conversation either.

Moynihan hesitated for a few seconds before looking at Jack and his wife. All signs of anger and shock were erased, and now replaced with sorrow and concern. "Victor had called me...to inform me that Caruso was in bad shape..and that he may not last for long, and that we should hurry up and find him if we care about him."

"...what..." Amanda managed to say, choking back tears. "What exactly did he mean by.. bad shape..? What has he done to him?!" She asked, starting to sound a little hysterical. She tried to calm down as she felt her husband's comforting hands on her shoulders.

"What did Victor do to him?" Jack asked hesitantly.

"He..didn't say." Moynihan replied uneasily. "The only thing he mentioned to me regarding what he's done to him is that he might need a hospital stay." This gave all three of them very clear and obvious ideas on what Victor had done. It must be linked to what Peter had told them earlier. He had told them that Caruso might die from what Victor was doing to him unless he surrendered to him quickly. And it was like Victor had called them to confirm this.

"Our poor baby..." Amanda whispered, hugging her husband tightly. Jack wrapped his arms around her and tried, once again, to calm her down. Moynihan looked at them sadly, unable to say anything to make them feel better. She silently wished for something to happen to turn the tides. She would like to get some good news out of all this mess. She was starting to feel as lost and confused as she was when Victor left her defenseless after breaking her leg. He had won that day, in their final battle, and now it seems like he would win again, this time at the price of a human life.

Moynihan closed her eyes and leaned back into her chair as she allowed her thoughts to flow through her mind. "We need a miracle now..." She spoke softly as to not disturb the couple. She slowly gazed down at her knitting material on her lap, and sighed. She didn't have the will left to bring herself to continue, and picked up the material and set it aside.

Just then, she and the couple looked up as they heard the sound of motorcycle engines getting closer to the lighthouse. They knew it had to be the children, finally returning from their battle with Peter. Normally Moynihan would feel relaxed, as in the past whenever the children returned from a mission, they'd bring good news, and talk about how they managed to outsmart Victor and his men, and freed any animals that were mutated. But now she had an almost overwhelming feeling of tension, her heart pained as she thought about worse case scenarios.

She gazed over at Caruso's parents on the couch. They looked just as troubled as she was, although she could tell the father was still trying to be strong. She didn't think they would want to go ask the kids if there was anything they left out in their previous report. That was her job anyway. "I'll...go greet them." Moynihan said softly.

She grabbed the cane next to her seat, and tried to get out of the chair. She planted her right foot first on the ground, and then carefully the left. As she started to feel pain in her ankle, she quickly applied more pressure and tried to support more of her weight on the cane As best as she could, she elevated her left foot slightly, which alleviated most of the pain. Wobbling slightly, she took a step forward, and cautiously brought her left leg forward, and repeated the process of putting more pressure on the cane than on her leg. Progress was slow, but she was inching her way towards the door.

Moynihan found herself continuously staring at the floor, keeping a sharp eye for anything she could accidentally trip over. She could hear her cane scraping along the floor as she continued to use it as a third leg. She winced as she kept moving her left leg forward, and could almost hear the bones crack as she thought about what Victor had done to her that fateful day. She eyed the staircase nearby nervously, shuddering as she remembered how Michelle had callously tossed her down the stairs. Moynihan felt lucky she had survived such a fall with little injury other than a cut or two and a twisted ankle. Judging just how far she had fallen and given her apparent age, she could have easily died.

Now her thoughts were on Michelle once more. She began to wonder why she would want to work for Victor in the first place. Was she not aware of Victor's temperament? Was she not aware of Victor's ultimate goal? Perhaps she was. Moynihan had considered that Michelle was unaware of what Victor really had planned, and perhaps was lied to, tricked into thinking the Dino Squad was the enemy. But judging from how she threw her, an old woman, down the stairs without hesitation, and how she had destroyed the monitors simply to make them more vulnerable, Moynihan started to wonder if Michelle had, like all of other Veloci's followers, given into or accepted his dream, his ultimate goal of wiping out humanity.

Surely, that red Troodon, Oscura, had fully accepted this plan. Max had described to her how viciously Oscura had attacked, and didn't wait for a second to deliver a blow. This seemed a little different from Michelle. It was true that she did not hesitate to toss her, and she did apply pressure to a weak point. But Michelle did not seem to have the same level of ferocity as Oscura did, and did not seem interested in fighting, just completing her mission. Michelle appeared to be the type of person who would rather get the job done quickly and leave with little confrontation. Oscura, on the other hand, seemed the type to want to cause pain, and cared little of getting much accomplished other than agony.

Ms. Moynihan frowned as she thought about this. If she calculated correctly, they would have more to fear from Oscura than from Michelle, even though Michelle's dinosaur form was larger, simply due to a more aggressive attitude. Surely, Oscura was a more loyal follower than Michelle. Personality wise, she was a lot like Victor, although perhaps even more dangerous. Moynihan was almost horrified as Max relayed to her what had happened. She hadn't even known Victor to be this vicious. At least under Victor's control, Raptor Dyne, at least for now, tries to keep a low profile and avoid certain situations if it risks getting them exposed. But if they were ran under Oscura, she feared that there would be a lot more attacks, and given the sheer number of people Victor has under his control...

Joanne Moynihan was only a few feet from the door when she could see the silhouettes of a couple teenagers walking up to the door. As she saw the door knob turning, she expected to see a couple exhausted and depressed teens to walk in to try to come up with another plan. But instead she got something quite different, and unexpected.

The first person who walked in was Max. He looked very happy about something, and had a big grin on his face. Rodger came in next, and looked no less cheerier. Then came Fiona, and she was in the same mood as well. Moynihan was a little confused. Not too long ago they sounded depressed, hopeless, almost lost. Now all of they sudden they looked almost happy. Just what had happened to change their mood so quickly?

"Kids..." Moynihan began to say, but before she could ask them what had happened, the final student came walking in, and in his hands, he held something that caused Moynihan to draw in a sharp breath. "Is that what I think it is?" There, within Buzz's arms, was the missing tracking device that Rodger had lost a few days ago. It still looked like it was in working condition, and had gone unnoticed by Michelle. While she could feel the excitement building up inside of her, she had to remain calm, and not get her hopes up. Something could still go wrong.

"Isn't it great, Ms. M?" Fiona said cheerfully. Moynihan wished she could share her enthusiasm, but they had gotten nothing that bad luck lately. Fiona frowned slightly at Moynihan's lack of rejoice. "Hey..is something wrong?"

"Yeah." Max said, noticing it too. "I thought you would be very happy."

"Oh believe me, dear boy," Moynihan assured him, "I am. It's just that I don't want you kids to get your hopes up. Even if we get that device to work, it could still have its signal blocked." If Victor truly believed that all tracking equipment was destroyed, he probably wouldn't bother trying to block out signals at this point. But he could easily have set up a satellite to emit a scramble signal for the lighthouse to prevent them from being able to properly use their equipment. He could easily have set up a beacon like the one the lighthouse had to hide his location as well.

"Blocked...?" Max said, a puzzled look on his face. "But the only one I know who has any kind of equipment that could scramble signals was you, Ms. Moynihan." The only other person Max could think of that could have the technology to block signals was Victor, but Moynihan had never mentioned this to them in the past. She had never warned them that if Victor pinpointed the location of the scrambling, that he could block out that signal. "...Victor can't block signals, can he?" He said, feeling his excitement die down.

"I'm afraid so, dear." Moynihan said sadly, feeling guilty about having to tell them this.

But Fiona wasn't about to let the situation turn hopeless again. "Come on you guys. At least it's something isn't it? It's better than having nothing to go by."

"Fiona's right, yo." Rodger said as he walked up to Buzz. "Despite what we've been through, we can't let ourselves lose hope. Come on, we'll get our big break soon, won't we?" He held out a hand towards Buzz. "Do you mind?" He asked, indicating the device in the punk teen's hands. Buzz shook his head slowly and handed over the device so Rodger could look it over.

"Just don't lose it this time, all right?" Buzz said in a teasing kind of tone. "Because if you do, I swear I'll..." He stopped himself when he received a glare from Fiona.

Rodger glared at him softly, but didn't have the time to deal with him now. "I won't, Buzz, okay?" Rodger held the device in his hands as he headed towards where Mr. Caruso and his wife were, and sat down on another couch.

Max looked over at Moynihan and concernedly said, "Ms. M, what are you doing up? You shouldn't be standing with a twisted ankled." He didn't know why Moynihan had decided to get up on her feet, especially when her ankle was still pretty swollen. She would end up only hurting her ankle even further doing this. Max attempted to grab a hold of the old woman to help her walk back to the chair, but Moynihan lifted up a hand, stopping him.

"I'm fine, Maxwell." Joanne said quickly as she slowly turned around to head back to her recliner. She was moving painfully slow, and Max bit his lip as he expected her to fall down and this time actually breaking the ankle. But to his relief, Joanne managed to reach her chair and lowered herself into it, and set her cane beside the piece of furniture. She felt relieved as there was no longer any pressure being applied to her sore ankle.

"Why were you standing up, Ms. Moynihan?" Max asked as he headed towards her. "You could have gotten hurt." He didn't know why he was telling this to Moynihan. He wasn't her father. It was not his place to tell her what to do. She was the mentor, he was the student. He had no authority over her, and he knew it. But that doesn't change the fact that he does care about her, as well as his other teammates. He regards them as close friends, and would do anything to protect them from harm. Although he doesn't always prevail. He winced as he thought about Caruso, and how close he was to saving him, yet failed in the end.

"I feel fine, Max." Moynihan assured him, although Max could see she was rubbing her ankle.

"You don't look fine." Max pointed out, eyeing her ankle.

Before Moynihan could respond, Jack spoke up, looking at Rodger and the device he held in his hands. "What is that?" He asked, pointing at the equipment Rodger was tweaking with.

As the large-bodied student pushed a few buttons to see if the item was still functioning, he looked up briefly and looked at Jack. "It's a hand-held tracker." Rodger said, briefly holding it out so that the man and his wife could get a good look.

"A...handheld tracker?" Amanda asked softly. She wasn't too big on technology, so she didn't know what Rodger was talking about. She eyed the device curiously, although a confused look was in her eyes. The device looked a little like a GPS she's seen once before, but was configured differently.

The remaining Dino Squad had walked into the room to join the others, each one taking a seat, and eyes staying on Rodger. The african-american didn't like this kind of attention, as it distracts him from his work. He tolerates it to a certain degree, but given the circumstances, he was feeling even more pressured than before. He could feel sweat forming on his forehead, and he wiped it with his hand. He didn't know why he was so sweaty already. He had hardly touched the device. Maybe he was just too cautionary, worried that he might slip up and destroy the tracker by mistake. He continued to tweak with it, pushing a few buttons and seeing if the screen would light up. When it didn't, he opened up the back of it to see if the battery needed changing.

As Rodger pulled the battery out from the compartment, he noticed it looked a little worn. His brow furrowed. This could explain why the device wasn't turning on. He looked up at Ms. Moynihan. "Do you have any batteries laying around?" He said in a serious tone, holding up the useless battery in his thick palm.

"Why yes. Over there." Moynihan answered, pointing at a cupboard that sat in the living room. "In the bottom shelf."

Rodger nodded and set the tracker down. As he got up to go towards the cupboard, he looked sternly at Buzz. "Do not touch it, okay?" He had believed that Buzz would mess around with the tracker to get it to work himself. But he was probably just being paranoid...

The punk teen frowned a little. "Don't worry, I won't." Buzz said in a grumpy tone. He was becoming a little frustrated with Rodger. What was he so mad about? Why would Buzz even want to mess around with the tracker, especially when they needed it to find Caruso? Buzz shook his head, dismissing the thoughts. Rodger was probably just worried, just like they all were. It's been almost a full day, and Caruso was still missing, and they had no idea where he was yet. He glanced down at the device, looking at the black screen, visualizing a bright green screen that it would normally have when in use. He thought about how the device would pick up Caruso's signature, and they would be able to find him, and rescue him from that monster of a dinosaur, Victor.

Amanda was still eyeing the device with a confused look on her face. She turned to her husband, and saw he seemed to have a new hope shine in his eyes as he stared at the device. She tugged at his shirt, bringing his attention from the tracker to herself. "Jack...what is it?" She asked, motioning towards the tracker.

Jack gave her a comforting smile, and placed his hands on her shoulders, preparing to give her a big hug. He seemed happy about something, so filled with new hope. Amanda knew this could only mean he had good news for her, the first good news she would have heard all day. "Dear, that's a hand-held tracker." He explained, pointing at the device. "It's...it's going to help us find our son."

Amanda felt an overwhelming joy fill her up inside. "Oh Jack..." She said softly in a happy tone. She wrapped her arms around her husband and squeezed tightly. This was the best news she has heard all day. Finally, a way to find her son. Poor Caruso, she thought. He must be very scared right now, all alone trapped with a madman. She silently promised to herself that when she gets her son back, she would make Victor pay.

Ms. Moynihan leaned back in her recliner as she watched Caruso's parents regain hope. While she is happy they have a new reason to hope, she herself couldn't bring herself to share the same enthusiasm. She knew something could still go terribly wrong. She would have spoken up to the couple, and tell them to not get their hopes up. But she didn't want to ruin the moment. It made her feel better to see the Dino Squad and Caruso's parents in higher spirits.

Rodger opened up the bottom cabinet door and began to rummage through it. He could see different materials scattered all over the place. There was a bit of dust collecting on the edges. It seemed Ms. Moynihan hadn't dusted it in a while. This surprised Rodger only a little bit. Moynihan wasn't the type of person to leave things dirty, but considering she has more important things to worry about, a little dusty cupboard isn't going to hurt anyone.

Inside the cabinet were a few trays laid out, although none of them were labeled. Rodger glared a little. He grabbed one of the trays and pulled it out, but found it to be filled with nothing but small balls of yarn. He pushed it back in. He grabbed the second tray and pulled it out. This one had a bunch of different sized needles. He groaned softly, wishing Moynihan and mentioned she kept some of her knitting equipment in here. He was expecting more technical things to be in here. He grabbed the third tray and slowly pulled it out, expecting to find more knitting stuff. But instead he found the batteries. He smiled softly. Inside the tray were a couple packets of different sized batteries. He reached in and grabbed one of the packets and took it out.. He shut the cabinet door tightly, and made his way back to the hand-held tracker.

He made his way towards the couch where he had left the hand-held tracker. He found it still laying in place where he had left it. He felt pleased that Buzz listened to him this time and left the device alone. The last thing he needed was Buzz messing around with it and accidentally break it before it was fixed. He said nothing, though, as he sat back down and began to replace the batteries.

Buzz looked over Rodger's shoulder, trying to see if the device was working. "Hey is it on yet?"

"No Buzz." Rodger said with an annoyed tone. "And it won't unless I change the batteries, which I haven't done yet."

"Gee, sorry. I was just asking..." Buzz muttered, scooting a little bit away from Rodger to give him space.

"Now guys, don't start." Fiona warned them with a low tone of voice. She was worried that the tension between Buzz and Rodger would cause a mistake to occur. She understood why they were tense though. Rodger was usually felt pressured when everyone was relying on him to get something done, especially when that something meant the difference between life and death. And of all of them, Buzz was the closest to Caruso in friendship.

It was a little funny, Fiona thought. Buzz and Caruso seemed like opposites, and yet they got along great, although they had their fair share of disagreements. But she knew that Buzz and Rodger acting this way wasn't going to make the situation better. Despite both having a reason, she knew this behavior wasn't to be tolerated. She glanced over at Moynihan, and noticed a small frown on her face.

"Fiona is right." Moynihan spoke up, waving a finger in a disciplinary manner as she scolded the two boys. "That attitude is not going to do any of us any favors."

"I'm sorry, Ms. M." Buzz said, lowering his head.

However Rodger didn't respond. His eyes were widened, and his lips were pulling back into a smile. His hands were so shaky it was difficult for him to not drop the device in his hands. The monitor was glowing green, and he could see the circle, and the line that swung around it, like a radar would. There was a low beeping sound, although no target was appearing. He lifted up his head and looked at the anxious group of people, waiting for him to deliver the news.

Rodger couldn't hold back his cheerful chuckle. He opened up his mouth, and gave the news they all wanted to hear. "It works! The tracker works!"

As night had started to fall onto the city of Boston, the tall skyscrapers as well as the streetlights were still illuminated. In spite of the darkness casting its shadow over the land, the bright lights still made the city seem like it was still in daytime. The amount of cars hadn't diminished and neither had the number of people walking the streets, into and outside buildings. The air was filled with the sounds of engines revving and screeching. The roads became a blur of light, further illuminating the city in contrast to the darkness surrounding the outer skirts of Boston. Some of the stores were closed, the inside as black as it can get. Many more, though, were still bustling with life. Such buildings included many of the restaurants that resided in the city.

Outside one such building, a bright red car pulled up along the sidewalk. Two tall figures, both male, stepped out, and looked up at the building they parked in front of. The building had a large sign hanging above the entrance that read 'Burton's Grill'. As one man headed towards the entrance, the other stayed behind for a few moments to put in a quarter into the parking meter. They hadn't planned on staying too long, and they couldn't anyway unless they wanted their car towed. And at the moment they did not have the money to spare to pay such a fine.

The second man walked through the doors to rejoin his companion, who was standing close by what appeared to be a podium with a young woman standing behind it. A clipboard with paper attached to it rested on top. A pen that was wired to the table was carefully held in her hand, the point close to the paper. She appeared to be writing down something down, although the pen and her hand weren't moving. She kept her eyes on the first man, briefly looking over to see the other man coming up from behind the first guy.

"Is he with you?" She asked politely, pointing the pen in direction of the second young man.

The first man gave a nod. "Yes, madame. He is."

The woman nodded in return, and pressed the pen against the paper as she started to write down the name of the first man. Across the first line of the paper, she wrote down 'Donald Simmons'. She then looked up, feeling a little embarrassed she didn't ask this earlier. "What is the name of your friend?"

The second man took a step forward, now standing right next to Donald. "That would be Michael Conner."

"Thank you." The young lady responded as she wrote down 'Michael Conner' on the paper.

Michael and Donald were around the same height, although Michael was a little taller. They both looked very similar to each other, with the same color hair and same style they kept it in. But despite their similarities in appearance, they weren't related. They were, instead, close friends since childhood. Michael was dressed up in a nice black shirt with a tie. Looking at Donald, he could have sworn he read his mind, as Donald was dressed in a similar fashion, although the white and black were switched around.

The two had just gotten off of work. Their workplace was nearby, in an electronics store. It was not as fancy as their previous job, but it sufficed them. They had decided to stop by Burtons Grill to get something to eat after a hard day at work. It was amazing how many customers they were getting. It seemed like as soon as one customer left, about two or three more would take their place. It was driving Michael insane, although Donald seemed to be able to tolerate it well, or at least better than Michael was.

The pair had originally worked for Victor Veloci, and had been for about a year. They were receiving great pay, although the hours were a little unusual, and took some time to get used to. They recalled having to wear those unusual outfits, full body suits with odd-looking helmets. Victor had assured them it was for safety reasons, although they both believed he was lying about that. Maybe it was so that Victor could easily identify whom was working for him. Donald had briefly complained about the suit because it was making him feel like he was overheating, but it didn't take long for Victor to convince him to keep wearing it, and Donald hadn't said anything about it since.

Working with Victor was a unique, although very stressful, experience. They had no idea just what they were in for when Victor selected them to join him at his true work station, with all the mutants he kept stored in large cylinders and that prehistoric feel in the room. It did take Michael and Donald sometime to get used to the fact that their employer was a sixty-five million year old Velociraptor. And it wasn't any better knowing that Victor would rip them apart if they revealed this to anyone. But despite him being a Velociraptor, working with him, in general, wasn't too different than what they were used to.

Although there was one difference. Victor had revealed to them, quite early on, that he despised humans and that he only tolerated their presence because he needed them. As much as it was painful for Victor to do so, he had to admit that if he wanted to achieve his goal, he needed the humans and their technology. Although Michael and Donald were terrified for the first few days, afraid that Victor was going to go raptor on them and kill them, they got used to the idea of working for a dinosaur, and become a bit more relaxed around Victor. But they never let their guard down and were careful to try not to disappoint Victor.

They did fine at first, achieving their goals and their assignments as they were told. But then in one mission they had started to mess up. And it was the last mission they would endure with Victor. Victor had developed another new mutant formula, and had wanted to test it out on some animals in a pet store. He needed to know if he was getting closer to perfecting his experimental DNA. He had assigned Donald and Michael in the task of contaminating every last one. He had given them each a bottle filled with the formula, disguised as anti-lice spray.

They had gotten to the store just as a couple teenagers were walking out. The male teen was pushing a cart with five different animals. Under Veloci's orders, they were supposed to contaminate all the animals. However, after they were finished spraying the first customer's animals, they had started to feel hungry. So they left the shop to go to a fastfood restaurant to get something to eat. They had originally planned on going back to the store to spray more of the animals, but by the time they were finished with their food and talking about things, the whole thing had slipped their mind. They didn't remember until sometime after they got back to Raptor Dyne.

They thought that maybe Victor wouldn't notice that not many animals were mutating, but they knew they would have to confess the truth eventually. Victor had several scans going on that would pick up the mutations as they occur. And sure enough, when Victor saw that only three mutant outbreaks were occurring, he grew suspicious. When he questioned Donald about this, he told him that they only contaminated the pets of one customer and then took a lunch break.

This did not take too well with Victor. The Velociraptor was so angry that he reverted back to his dinosaur form and advanced on him. Donald promised he and Michael would do better and be more responsible. Victor agreed to give them another chance, but threatened to eat them if they failed him again. After that Michael and Donald, although frightened, tried their best to act better and try to impress Victor.

Later on in the night, they had gone to the local nursing home where the final mutantsaur had been spotted. Upon arrival they noticed that one of the perfect dinosaurs, the Tyrannosaurus Rex, was there, appearing to be apprehending what appeared to be a mutant goldfish. Michael and Donald find it difficult to remember exactly how the events played out, but they had somehow shot Victor with the tar trap and net instead of the T-Rex. And as they dragged it towards the truck they were excited because they felt like they were in for a raise for capturing a perfect dinosaur. But they quickly realized they had bagged Victor instead, much to their horror. As Victor began to vent his anger at them they took off running. As they disappeared, they could hear Victor yelling at them that they were fired.

Finding another job after that wasn't easy, and it didn't help that they kept having nightmares about Victor coming over and eating them. He had sounded so serious when he told them this too. Maybe he wasn't being serious about it. But he was still a carnivore, and was fully capable of doing so. And seeing how he was larger and stronger than a human, he could easily have his way with anyone. Donald had thought about spreading word about Victor in an attempt to protect others from him, but Michael had opposed it. He warned his companion that if word gets out, Victor could easily locate them and kill them.

"Will you follow me?" The woman asked them as she stepped down from the podium. She began to lead the two young men towards their chair.

The restaurant was lit up by large, rectangular lights that hung low from the ceiling. The carpet was a nice light tan color. There were round, amber-colored tables with black seats. And there were olive colored leather seats attached to a section of wall, and an amber table set in the middle. Several pictures were hung along the wall, which was painted a pale yellow. The air was nice and cool, and as they breathed it in it felt clean too in contrast to the dirty city air. The young men were led to one of the olive leather seats. As they sat down, the woman gave them each a menu and walked off to tend to other customers.

"So what do you plan on ordering, Donald?" Michael asked his friend as he opened up his menu to see the selections.

"Oh the usual." Donald responded, yawning a little. "That sesame tuna they have."

Michael rolled his eyes. "You always get that one!"

Donald chuckled as he turned the menu to take a look at desserts and drinks. "Well I can't help it if that's my favorite meal they got here."

Michael gazed out the window nearby. He could see a few people walking by, and so many cars zooming along the road. He took in a long sigh. He wondered how long this sight would last. He knew that if Victor's dream was achieved, all this city life would be a thing of the past. All of it would be destroyed or abandoned, and the cities would crumble down. Although Michael had once agreed to Victor's vision because he believed it would do the planet some good, he had started to regret thinking like that. While it was true that humans were damaging the planet, he did not think condemning everyone to death was the right way to go.

Donald noticed where his friend was looking, and he too began to have that same feeling of guilt overcome him. To think that he was going to help Victor destroy this city, as well as many others, was mind-boggling. He felt so filthy being associated with Victor, and he tried to hide the fact that he had worked for him.

"I still can't believe he were going to help Victor destroy all this." Donald spoke up, catching the attention of his companion. "I mean the guy wanted to take it all away from us. He wanted to erase it all."

Michael nodded as he returned his gaze back to the menu. "Well at least it's all in the past now." He said.

"Is it?" Donald raised an eyebrow. "What if he actually succeeds? What are we going to do?" He raised a hand to emphasize his statements. "I mean no one is going to believe us if we try to warn them. I mean seriously, who would believe that a man who is really a Velociraptor is plotting the very downfall of mankind?"

"Well people have believed stranger things." Michael responded.

"Yeah that's true..." Donald admitted.

There were so many things people used to believe in, no matter how bizarre they seemed. There was the whole moon being made out of cheese thing, the world being flat, and lemmings committing suicide. Old wives tales were still believed today despite scientific evidence that disproved much of them. It was amazing what people will believe based on so little fact. Really, spiders making giant hairdos their home? Bats being blind? Earwigs crawling inside the head to lay their eggs? All these weird stories that people would believe without a second thought.

There were other things people used to believe in as well, such as giant humans existing at one time, and all sorts of mythological creatures as well, such as griffins, hydras, and of course the famous dragons. These, however, had some logical evidence. The ancient people had uncovered the bones of many extinct animals, but had misinterpreted them as something else entirely. They thought the skull of a mammoth was the skull of a cyclops, and the skeleton of a Protoceratops as the remains of a powerful griffin. It was easy to understand the misinterpretations however. How were they to know any better? How were they to comprehend what they had actually found?

Times have changed however, and scientific advances had revealed the truth behind these skeletal remains. But although they are now proven to be nothing more than a myth, there were some people who truly believed these creatures existed at one time. There was even a program trying to prove that dragons exist, and had even gone into detail on how they could have lived and what could have wiped them out. Donald had laughed this off, dismissing it as absurd, although Michael was a little more willing to listen.

The woman came back and stood next to their table. "Okay are you two gentlemen ready to order now?"

Snapping back from his thoughts, Donald nodded. "Yes. I would like to have the sesame-crusted tuna."

"All right." The woman said as she wrote the information down on a piece of paper. She looked at Michael. "And you?"

"The calamari please." Michael said as he set his menu down.

"And anything to drink?" The woman asked politely.

"Just some water." Michael said without looking at her directly.

"Same here." Donald said, holding up his menu, his eyes still scanning through the desserts section. He didn't really have much of a sweet tooth today. He just liked looking at the desserts section. For some reason just the sight of it made him feel better, usually. But not today...

That was all the woman needed to know. Without hesitation, she said in a very polite tone of voice, "Your meals should be ready in about twenty minutes. Is there anything else you would like to order?"

Michael slowly shook his head. "No thank you." He handed his menu to the woman.

As the woman grabbed the menu and held it under one of her arms, she turned to Donald to await his answer. She decided to give him a couple minutes. She could tell he was still looking through. She wasn't allowed to take the menus away if a customer was still looking through them.

When Donald finally spotted something he wanted, he looked up at the woman. As he started to tell the woman what he wanted, they did not notice that they were being watched.

Outside, on top of a tall building right across the street, a feminine figure stood in the darkness. She had long hair that flowed as the wind blew in her face. She wore what appeared to be a beautiful golden blouse with a bright white skirt. She wore a few gold rings around her left wrist, and she had high-heals on, colored a silvery way. Her golden blouse had a few blue stripes on it, along the sleeves and across the waist. While it was unusual, it still looked good on her.

Her long hair was a pale blond, almost as pale as it can get. It was tied into a ponytail, and dangled across her right shoulder. In her hands, gloved in dark-colored leather like Fiona's, she held a pair of binoculars as she kept an eye on the two young men inside Burtons Grill. She growled softly to herself. Although they never met face to face, she knew who they were. As she leaned over the edge of the building to get a better look, she let herself go deep in her thoughts.

She didn't know why she was spying on these two men. She didn't normally bother herself with such things. Spying was not something she normally did. While she was hired to keep an eye on these two men for a while, she was never told whom was hiring her, and what they wanted her to do other than spy on the two subjects. She was not even told why she was doing this. This frustrated her. If there was no reason to motivate her, why should she even bother doing this? It wasn't like her "employer" is going to know if she left her post or anything.

But being the responsible woman that she was, she remained on the rooftop, mentally noting what the men were doing. Despite how close she was too the edge, she was unusually calm, as if she felt she had nothing to fear. She continued to look through the binoculars, quickly growing bored since nothing interesting was going on. She didn't see the point in this. These men were nothing that special. They weren't that rich. They weren't criminals. They didn't have some breakthrough miracle. They weren't celebrities. They were just normal, ordinary, everyday gentlemen.

But regardless, she continued to do her job, spying on them. She was informed to call her employer if the two men did anything suspicious or out-of-the-ordinary. She didn't know what they had meant by that, but she felt that she'd recognize something suspicious when she sees it, or if she was close enough, hears it. But she couldn't think of anything that these men could say that would be so unusual that they would have to be spied on so often. There were enough weirdo humans in the world anyway. What was a few more?

After a few more minutes, the woman groaned angrily. There was still nothing interesting going on. Perhaps she needed to be inside the building, listening in on their conversation. Yeah, she would probably get something good from there. She turned around and headed back to the stairs, preparing to go into Burtons Grill to pay these two men a visit. She opened up her mouth to speak her first words in what seemed to be hours. "If I cannot see anything interesting, maybe I will hear something interesting."

Within a short time span, she managed to get out of the building, and stared straight across the street. The two men had chosen a seat near a window, much to her delight. She could clearly see them, even from her position, chatting with one another. Michael and Donald seemed to have finished their orders, and the woman that was catering to them was no where in sight. She probably walked away to confirm their orders and tend to other customers, the woman thought. She smirked softly. Maybe this meant she could get close enough to them without arousing suspicion. She shook that thought of her head. There was nothing elaborate about it. Anyone could easily walk in and choose a seat near these young men. The only hard part was listening in without them realizing what she is doing.

She reached into her pocket, and felt around for a small device she had stuffed into it. A small recorder in the shape of a pen. Very deceitful little object, it allowed her to secretly record conversations without being noticed. Clipping the pen on the pocket of her blouse, she took a step forward, looking left and then right to make sure the roads were clear. Once she was sure it was safe, she crossed the street, and headed for the doors. She pushed them open, and went up to the same podium as the young men did, although another person greeted her. It was a young man, looking to be about five years older than the other person. The blond hesitated for a second, then opened up her mouth to speak.

"Table for one, please." She asked, trying to sound as politely as possible. As she prepared herself, she couldn't help but gaze towards the two young men.

"Would you like a seat over there?" The man asked her, noticing her staring at some particular seats.

The woman nodded once. "Yes, I would like that."

Time seemed to fly fast. Before either men realized it, their dinner was fully prepared, and a waitress came by to hand over their plates. She had also brought them their drinks, and apologized for not bringing them sooner. Neither men seemed that upset, and immediately began to eat. The smell of calamari and tuna filled their nostrils, making them drool even as they ate. After taking a few bites of their food, they grabbed their glasses of water and drank, washing down the food.

After consuming several bites of his tuna, Donald picked up a napkin and wiped his lip of the sauce that clung to his skin. "I still wonder though..." He said without really thinking about it.

"Wonder about what?" Michael asked, his mouth full of calamari bits. He quickly swallowed it.

"Remember that day Victor fired us?" Donald asked warily, looking around to see if anyone was listening in on him.

"Yes, what about it?" Michael did remember that day rather well. It still sent chills down his spine whenever he thought about it.

"Did you think he meant it," Donald asked nervously, "I mean when he said he was going to have us for his lunch break?"

Michael gulped, feeling a little angry that his friend had brought this up during dinner. The young man glanced down at his plate, and started to visualize the calamari being parts of him, and imagined Victor chowing down on them. The very thought made a chill shudder throughout his body. He tried to take another bite, but disturbing thoughts kept flowing through his head. He eventually had to drop the fork onto the table, and rubbed his temples.

Michael groaned, "I don't know, okay?" He closed his eyes. "Let's not talk about it over dinner, okay?"

"I'm sorry." Donald looked down at his tuna, suddenly getting the same sick feeling. He pushed the tuna bits around a little with his fork before placing it down on the table. "I was just..." But his voice trailed off when he heard the sound of something clicking. His head perked up, and he looked for the source of the sound. He quickly found it. It was coming from a pen held by what appeared to be another customer. A beautiful blond who was sitting in the seat next to them.

Looking out of the corner of her eye, the woman noticed that one of the men had noticed her. But it didn't really matter now. She had already heard enough. She finally knew why these men were of such interest. They must have worked for Victor Veloci. How else would they know about him threatening to eat his employees? And why else would they be so afraid of him? Anyone who knew about Victor, at least well enough, would know he was really a Velociraptor. A rather intimidating being, she had to admit, that could strike fear into the hearts of even the bravest men. And for good reason too.

She began to wonder just what else they knew about Victor. She thought about asking them directly, but scratched that idea. It would probably arouse suspicion. The young men might not even trust her if they found out she knew about Victor. Maybe they would think she was his second-in-command or something and accuse her of collecting private information so that Victor could find them much faster and tear them apart. She chuckled at the idea. She had a feeling Vic had more important things to worry about then a couple young men like these, such as trying to capture dinosaurs that seem to appear out of nowhere, and disappear into nothingness.

But since now both men seemed to notice her there, she thought what's the harm in talking to them. They do not know what she is actually doing there. She tried her best to hide her smirk, and turned around to face the men, acting as if she was oblivious to what they were talking about. "Hello there." She said softly. "Is there a reason you are looking at me?" She asked innocently.

"I'm sorry." Donald said apologetically. "We didn't mean to stare at you, did we?"

After a couple seconds of silent gawking at the woman, Michael shook his head quickly. "Yeah, sorry about that." He said quickly.

The woman giggled softly. "Oh it is quite all right. I get it a lot." She quickly glanced at her pen to ensure she was still gripping it tight enough to record the dialog. She also glanced back at the men to ensure that they weren't eyeing the pen suspiciously. They weren't. Instead they were staring at her, probably entranced by her appearance. She almost smiled slyly at this, but stopped herself, knowing it would arouse suspicion in the two guys.

"So what is your name?" Michael asked after a few minutes of silence. The awkward silence of the room was starting to bother him a bit.

"My name?" The woman said slyly. She grinned at him and Donald. "Why don't you guys tell me your names first?"

"My name is Michael." Michael said.

"And I am Donald." Donald said.

"And I am...Kista." The woman said, placing her head on her hand while her elbow rested on the table. The woman, named Kista, stared at the young men in an almost seductive way in order to mask her true intentions. She felt men were too gullible, easily swayed by a beautiful woman like herself, unable to detect any possible dangers. This is why she agreed to track men; they were more prone to danger than women. "I could not help but overhear..." She said as innocently as she could, "..but did you guys happen to mention..Victor?"

Mentioning Victor's name could have proven to be a mistake. But neither men seemed to be suspicious of her. She had almost forgotten how powerful and well known Victor actually was. It would not be unheard of to hear about Victor and his work, especially since there were a lot of articles published on his bioengineering work, minus the mutantsaurs of course. As long as she did not mention anything about mutations or dinosaurs, she would probably be safe.

Michael and Donald looked at each other as the woman had brought up Victor. It was not unusual for people to know about Victor, at least know about the man he had pretended to be all these years. They felt that this woman had probably either met Victor while he was visiting some place checking on his mutants, or read about him in one of the many articles published about him. But if this woman had heard them talking about Victor, just how much had she heard?

"Oh, well..Victor was.." Donald said, fumbling to hold his fork in his hand. But he had a hard time bringing himself to finish his sentence, almost dreading that someone was spying on him and would shoot him if he mentioned he worked for Victor.

Michael noticed his companion's edginess and decided to finish his sentence for him. "Victor used to be our employer."

Kista pretended to sound shocked, and it looked really convincing as well. She took in a sharp gasp and leaned back, her feminine hand on her chest. "No way, really? That's amazing!"

Michael chuckled softly, not able to share her enthusiasm. "Yeah, I suppose..."

"What did you do?" Kista asked, leaning forward to make herself appear curious and interested in what he wanted to say. Well she was interested and curious, but not for the reason the man probably thought.

"We...I... would rather not talk about it." Michael said, rubbing the back of his head.

Kista's smile vanished from her face. "Ohh..." She said, trying to sound understanding. "I guess he wasn't such a great man to work with, eh?"

Donald frowned a bit. "You don't know the half of it..."


	7. Glimmer

Author's Note: Oh man, I did not realize I uploaded the wrong chapter. I accidentally uploaded a chapter for my Animaniacs fanfic, Running Around In Circles. I apologize. Here's the real chapter Glimmer.

sss

The trio continued to talk for what seemed like an hour. Kista had received her food, which was nothing more than a small salad with some Caesar dressing. They started to talk about different things, such as hobbies, their current jobs, their families, and likes and dislikes. The change in conversation, avoiding anything about Victor, seemed to relax the two men as they talk about themselves freely with her. She couldn't help but smile. They were treating her as if they always knew her. The two men seemed relax enough to continue eating, and within a few minutes they had eaten the last bite of their food.

As they finished their water, the waitress that had catered them came by and asked them if they were done. They told her yes and hand over their empty plates and cups to the waitress. She grabbed them carefully and placed them on the cart she had pushed over. She glanced over at Kista, but didn't say anything. She could see that her bowl of salad was still about half full, and believed she still wasn't done eating. She must be a pretty slow eater, she thought.

After they were done eating, Donald decided to try to tell a few jokes to Kista, much to her confusion and surprise. When she laid eyes on these men, she would never have suspected any one of them to be a comedian. They didn't look like the type of men to tell jokes. And as Donald told his jokes, she clenched her teeth. His jokes were pretty bad, and even his male friend was looking at him weird. But nonetheless she pretended to enjoy them, and tried to laugh as much as she could to make him believe she really found it humorous. Donald thanked her, and began to tell a couple other jokes to pass the time, must to the dismay of her and Michael.

She didn't know entirely why she was subjecting herself to this. Her assignment was to spy on them, not endure bad jokes like this guy was telling her. She almost felt like revealing her true intentions to them right then and there, but knew she would face penalty if she did. In all of her missions, she had been forbidden to tell her victims what she was about to do. If assigned to kill, she'd do it secretly, either poisoning them or lethal injection. She had another method in mind, but it would be too drastic and would more easily draw attention to the scene of the crime, and perhaps help expose her.

She finally raised a hand as Donald finished his last joke. "I'm sorry but I had better get going." She left her salad, a portion of it still inside, on the table as she grabbed her small purse and put her pen inside one of the pockets and zipped it up. She then placed he purse inside her blouse pocket and rose up from her seat. Before she got up, she had quickly wrote down a check to pay for her meal. She turned and headed out of the door before either men could say goodbye to her.

Donald raised an eyebrow. "Now where is she off to in such a hurry?"

Michael chuckled, and elbowed his friend gently. "Maybe she is running away from your horrible jokes."

Donald growled at him. "There's nothing wrong with my jokes! She thought they were hilarious!"

Michael rolled his eyes. "Yeah. She was just pretending to make you feel better."

Donald pushed his friend roughly but softly. "Oh shut up..!" He could not believe what his friend was saying.

Kista walked outside of the restaurant and headed back towards her dark blue car that she had parked close by. She checked the parking meter. It would seem she had gotten there in the nick of time. The meter said she only had about three minutes left before the car would be towed. She quickly opened up the driver's seat, and turned the key in the ignition. The engine quickly roared to life, and the lights flickered on, further illuminating the streets of Boston. The car backed up a little, and then revved forward, gaining speed as it traveled along the road.

"Finally," Kista said to herself as Burton's Grill became smaller and smaller as she gained more and more distance from it. "I'm away from those two." She wiped her forehead and grabbed some flavored water she had kept in the car. She popped it open and placed the tip of it in her mouth. Her throat, which had gotten a little sore, seemed to feel better as the cold water splashed inside her mouth and throat.

She placed the bottle back down and focused on finding her apartment so she could get some sleep. "Just why did I agree to spy on those two anyway? They're just a couple of morons." Another thought crossed her mind. "Morons..who used to work for Victor." She could barely imagine those two men working in the army, let alone with Victor. The thought amused her to the point where she burst out laughing. If the car frame hadn't muffled the sound, her laughter would probably be heard within a few feet radius from her car.

As she turned a corner, she felt a rumble in her small purse, still resting inside her pocket. She groaned. She knew it was going to be her employer, asking her how the mission went. She quickly pulled up to the side of a street with no parking meters, and pulled out her cell phone and clicked it open. "Hello?" She asked, trying to hide her annoyance.

Sure enough she had been correct. It was her employer. He was asking her how the mission went, no surprise there. "It went fine." She said. "I really don't know why I am even spying on these guys. They're such small fry. Why are you even concerned about them?"

Much to her surprise, her employer had not only called to ask her mission, but had also called to tell her she is cleared of it. She had been given a new mission, one with higher priority than these two men. She sighed with relief, thankful she would not have to sit through another one of Donald's bad jokes. A raptor would seem less intimidating than that.

"All right then. What's my new mission?" She asked, smiling softly as she awaited instructions for her next assignment. As the information was relayed to her, her smile faded and her eyes widened a little. Then they soon narrowed into slits and her teeth were bared. This was not exactly what she had been hoping for. "You're kidding me..right?"

She groaned softly as her employer confirmed that he was being rather serious about this mission. The new assignment involved some school she's never heard of before to keep an eye on a class she didn't really want to be part of. She rolled her eyes slowly, wanting to tell her employer off. She was getting sick of these useless missions. Although her employer had claimed there was more importance in this mission, she did not see anything particularly special about spying on some brats in an educational building.

She opened up her jaws to express her disinterest and annoyance with these missions, but her employer had broken her off with another statement. He told her that she may be interested in a couple of students, telling her they were rather special and unique, and that she might be able to recognize them when she first meets them.

"Special..?" Kista asked, newfound interest growing up inside her. Maybe there would be something more to this mission than the last one after all. "What makes them special?"

Back at the lighthouse, Rodger stood outside of the building, a few feet from the lighthouse, standing close to the edge of the cliff. The waves below him were crashing against the cliff edge. One slip up and he could easily fall over. He held the tracking device, held tightly in his hand, high up in the air. He could not get a signal inside the lighthouse for some reason, and determined there was probably some sort of interference, although he couldn't figure out just what kind. Moynihan had suggested he try going outside and doing it. Not one to question his mentor, he obeyed her and took the tracker outside to try to get a signal.

Although things had started to look hopeful, Moynihan tried to convince everyone to calm down. She explained that if they got too worked up over this find, they may become even more crushed when or if the device fails them. They should not jump to any conclusions until Rodger came back with the results. She had convinced everyone to stay inside and await for Rodger's report. He shouldn't be gone too long. Perhaps just five to six minutes if Caruso happened to be within the radius. Rodger, a few days ago, had upgraded the monitoring device to cover far more ground. It was amazing what kind of power he could put into such a little device. But it wasn't the only tiny thing to have so much power, especially when it came to something like computer harddrives.

As he held it up in the air, his thumb felt around for the button to activate a scan. He pressed it, and the machine whirred to life. The screen glowed in the dark night, giving his hand a greenish illumination. The device beeped a few times, and there was a low screech sound as it started to do a scan. Rodger bit his lip and crossed his fingers, hoping the device would work. This was their last chance, and he doubted they would be able to find another chance like this before it was too late. He could only watch as the tracker continued to do its scan, leaving a message that stated the scan would be done in a couple minutes.

Rodger knew it was searching for Caruso specifically. While he was upgrading the device, he had given it the ability to track a single individual by allowing it to hone in on their communication devices, which already had a tracker inside them. Rodger was relieved that Caruso was still wearing his while he was captured. He hoped Veloci wouldn't find out about the tracker, and hadn't removed it. As long as Caruso was still wearing it, the device would find him, surely.

"Come on..." Rodger whispered to himself. "Come on, come up with something..please." He said, nearly begging the device to find his friend.

After what seemed to be the most intense few minutes of his young life, Rodger finally saw the results of the scan. He looked through the bits of information that now filled the screen. The information being relayed to him was latitude and longitude coordinates of Caruso's current position. While it wasn't going to reveal the precise, pinpoint location, it would give them a place to start. Rodger's lips curled back in a smile as the device did what he wanted it to do, and it revealed the information that they needed. If he wasn't controlling himself, he'd be jumping in the air joyfully.

"Yes!" He shouted to no one in particular. "It worked!"

He looked back at the device as he read the latitude and longitude information. The longitude was negative eighty-five point twenty-four and the latitude was forty-two point eighty-eight. He narrowed his eyes. Being a whiz in school, he knew a thing or two about geography, and he recognized those coordinates. They were Boston's location on the world map. It was not too surprising though. He suspected Victor would take Caruso in Boston. Unfortunately he could not pinpoint exactly where at the moment. But at least now they have a location and can start to formulate a rescue plan.

"Better go tell the guys." He told himself. Keeping the machine on so that he wouldn't lose the information, he turned back to the lighthouse and walked back to the door.

Inside the lighthouse, the others were waiting patiently. In Fiona's lap was Rump. The white and black dog seemed confused as to what was going on. He could sense something was wrong with Fiona and everyone else. The dinodog did his best to try to cheer everyone up with his playful antics. But to his disappointment, no one seemed to be in the mood. Whining, he had curled up on Fiona's lap in an attempt to comfort her. Fiona didn't protest. Feeling Rump's warm furry body did help relieve some of the tension she was feeling.

Max leaned back in a couch, and once again stared at the blank TV. He closed his eyes and shook his head, recalling the irony that had occurred earlier that day. He glanced over at the chair where his mentor and reptile-loving friend was. Moynihan was discussing something with Buzz. He assumed it probably had something to do with the little spat he and Rodger had earlier. Max couldn't help but sympathize with Buzz, recalling his own reprimanding from Moynihan earlier that day.

"I hope you and Rodger don't continue that attitude." Moynihan said, looking at Buzz with a serious look on her face. She didn't like scolding her students for negative behavior, but she knew if she didn't make herself clear, they would probably repeat the unwanted behavior again. She was doing this for their own good, and she was sure they knew that as well.

"We won't, I promise." Buzz said, raising up his hand to confirm his point. "You have my word."

Moynihan smiled and nodded, but she wasn't done with him yet. Before Buzz could walk away, Moynihan grabbed his arm to force him to stay. "I'm not done talking to you." She said gently, but with a tinge of authority.

Near them, Caruso's parents were still on the couch, having not moved for the past several minutes. They were waiting for Rodger to come back in with any kind of news. They were tense, nervous, almost expecting the worst. And yet in the back of their minds, they still had some hope left. Maybe, just maybe, things would go in their favor, and they would have an idea of where their son was. They could feel the tense feelings eating away at their stomachs. The wait was almost unbearable, but they would have to suffice.

To try to keep their minds off the negative feelings, they had started to discuss, a little, on some happier moments about Caruso. They talked about different things, like his first laugh, his first smile, when he first walked. They also discussed other things about Caruso, such as his early life in school, how he became obsessed with his appearance, and how he had broken his arm one year while on a field trip. But his arm healed completely and there's not even a scar left behind.

They suddenly frowned to themselves. The last memory, about his arm getting broken, wasn't actually a happy memory. It was worrisome enough when they found out about a single fracture. They started to feel upset all over again as they started to imagine just what kind of condition Caruso must be in right now. They might not deal with just one fracture, but multiple ones, perhaps even missing limbs. The worst case scenario is that they would have to plan for their son's funeral. Mrs. Caruso bit her lip as she thought about this. She did not believe she could handle having to watch her son being lowered into the dark-colored ground.

"Do you think the device will work, Jack?" Amanda asked as she glanced towards the door. She could see a dark shadow, and knew Rodger was going to come in any second. But she still felt nervous. What if he would come in only to bring bad news?

"I'm sure it will, dear." Jack assured her. "I'm positive."

The door to the lighthouse swung open, and all eyes were now on Rodger. The african-american had a big smile on his face, although they could still see some worry in his eyes. He walked into the lighthouse and shut the door behind him. Everyone waited as he walked in the room to join them. No one said anything. It was Moynihan's suggestion that everyone was to remain quiet when Rodger returned to tell them the good news or the bad news. She felt that this way, Rodger wouldn't feel as pressured, since he wouldn't be bombarded with so many questions, or be surrounded by people trying to look at the scans.

Rodger sat down on the couch where Buzz used to be before Moynihan pulled him aside to have a talk with him. He took a moment to take in a breather, trying to calm down his racing heart and pulse. He then glanced at Max. Instead of giving what kind of news he asked, Rodger asked, "Max, can you get me a pen and piece of paper?"

Max's eyes widened a little. He had a feeling of what Rodger was going to do. Without saying a word, he got up out of his seat and walked over, pulling out a pen from his pocket, and grabbed a piece of paper that was on the floor. He handed them over to Rodger, who took them without saying a word. Max watched as Rodger placed the paper on a book, used as a hard surface, and start to write something on it. Or was he drawing? Max couldn't tell, but he had a feeling it was good news. Why else would Rodger need a pen and paper? Why else would he have that big grin on his face when he walked in through the door?

Rodger wrote down the coordinates on the piece of paper as well as a crude map of the northeast of the country. He had to strain his memory to remember the general shape and size of each state, and hoped his so-called map would make enough sense to his friends. When he was done, he returned to his seat and held out the paper in front of the group, and used the pen as a pointer. He hoped that he would explain in such a way that he doesn't confuse the others.

"The scanner worked." Rodger announced. He looked around the room, seeing the look of relief and joy on everyone's faces, especially on Caruso's parents' faces. Rodger could feel his heart fill with happiness to see them looking so full of hope once more. The same thing went to the rest of his Dino Squad comrades, and Ms. Moynihan. He looked down at his map, and used the pen to circle the coordinates. "According to the scanner, Caruso's current position is forty-two point eighty-eight degrees latitude and negative eighty-five point twenty-four longitude."

Rodger looked up to see everyone's expressions. They hadn't changed. They were all still smiling. They probably had an idea of where Caruso was, but they were probably just happy to just know where he was finally. He decided to continue with his explanation. He moved the pen and started to circle an area of what looked to be Massachusetts.

"That would point Caruso around here." Rodger said, indicating one part of the state in particular. "It means he is somewhere in the region of Boston, possibly in or around Raptor Dyne."

The news did not particularly surprise anyone. It would seem like Victor to take Caruso there to perform his experiments. They all knew where Raptor Dyne was and they could easily get in, or so they believed, and get Caruso back. And even if they could not get in, they could always alert the authority and tell them of what happened, although this was a risky move. They would have to come up with some sort of lie to cover up the fact that Caruso could transform into a dinosaur, and perhaps also try to cover up Veloci's little secret too. While he was their enemy, exposing him would not make their lives any easier.

"So what are we waiting for?" Buzz said. "Let's go down there and get Caruso back!"

"Not so fast Buzz." Max said. "First we need a plan."

Despite the good news they were given, they still had to remain focused, and serious about this situation. They couldn't get too worked up over it, and they still had to approach this cautiously. They still needed a plan. Even if they got into Raptor Dyne, they would have no idea where he was. And what if he's not in Raptor Dyne at all? He could be in any building in the surrounding area. It would take days to look through them all, and surely Veloci would catch on and perhaps relocate Caruso before they got to him. What they needed now was a way to find out Caruso's exact location. Once they did that, they could go there and free him.

"Max is right, yo." Rodger explained as he set the paper and pen back down. "We now know Caruso's in Boston, but we can't make a move just yet. Without knowing his exact location, we don't know where to start. And if Victor sees us there, he could make the search even more difficult."

"Well we can't just sit here and do nothing." Fiona said, stroking Rump's fur. "We have the information we need, so we have to come up with something, don't we?"

"Yes." They heard Moynihan say. The old woman leaned forward a bit, her fingers interlocked and her chin resting on them. She listened to Rodger's information carefully. She had once lived in the Boston area, and knew how large it was, and how Caruso could be anywhere there. "It is true that we have to formulate a plan, but I suggest we wait until tomorrow morning." She knew this statement would not take too well with the children and Caruso's parents, but she felt she knew what she was doing. She was a lot more familiar with Raptor Dyne and the way it functioned than the children did.

"What are you saying?" Fiona asked angrily, making the old woman flinch. "We can't just leave him there all night!"

Max joined in. "Why would you even suggest that, Ms. Moynihan?!" He just couldn't believe that his mentor would even think about leaving Caruso in or around Raptor Dyne all night by himself. That was insane! "Whose side are you on?!"

Moynihan flinched again, and moved a bit backwards in her seat, feeling the tension of everyone glaring at her for her suggestion. She knew, herself, that leaving Caruso alone for the night would be risky, but it would just be as risky to go now to find Caruso. "I am sorry that I upset you all, but going after Caruso now would not benefit anyone. Victor's security is more secure at night. And at night, our brains sends a hormone to make us sleepy. We wouldn't be able to function well enough to get past the tight security."

"But..." Max said, raising a finger. "..we have done missions at night before, with no trouble. Why should this be any different?"

For what feels like the first time, Moynihan felt at a loss of words. She meant well, and she knew the others knew it. They had always trusted her advice, and felt they could rely on her. But now she began to question her own ability to make decisions. Max had brought up a very good point that she could not ignore. They HAD gone on missions during the late night before and were still able to succeed. If she feared it to be too risky to go after Caruso at night, she should have come up with another reason. Perhaps they could succeed in rescuing the boy if they were to hurry up... but where would they go?

Regardless of knowing that Irwin was in Boston, they still don't know what building he was in. And it wasn't like they could go searching without arousing suspicion either. What human wouldn't notice a pale yellow van wandering the neighborhoods and streets, searching every possible building? And what of Veloci and his men? Would they not grow suspicious as well? Victor has seen the pale yellow SUV for himself a few times. He could easily spot the SUV from satellites or from where he resides at night. He may recognize them and find someway to stop their advice long before they could reach their destination.

Moynihan subconsciously bit her lip as she stared at Max. The young boy was looking at her directly in the eyes, awaiting her response. Moynihan felt the pressure a leader would feel when faced with making a final decision that could mean the difference between life and death. She knew that if she chose wrong, Caruso's life might be put to an end. But which decision is the right one? Should she allow them to after Caruso now? Or should she go forward with her plan and make them wait until morning? She already knew the consequences if she chose wrong.

She knew had to choose what was best for Caruso, for his sake. Right now, saving him was the highest priority. If they didn't save him, not only could he lose his life, but Veloci could harness more of his DNA to find out what makes the DNA perfect, and if he succeeds in doing that, he could get one step closer at perfecting his experimental DNA. It could spell doom for the human race as well as modern Earth. Moynihan did admit to herself, yet not to the kids, that sometimes she did miss the Mesozoic Era and how things used to be. But she accepted the changes long ago, and she did not want anyone to suffer from Victor's ambitious ways.

She still struggled on making a decision. It's been about a minute now, and she still hasn't replied. She wondered if Max was starting to grow impatient with her. She wondered if the other children were starting to question her abilities as a leader. And she wondered if Caruso's parents were growing suspicious of her. She couldn't stand the thought of losing respect and admiration, especially from the children, with whom she'd grown close to. The last thing she wanted to do was get rejected by these people.

Joanne finally gained the courage to speak, and finally made a response to Max's question. "You are right Max." She said. "We have done night missions in the past. We have completed them with succession." She had respected Max for his leadership skills among the group. He always seemed to just take charge when no one else would. Although his leadership status was rocky at first, he's greatly improved and gained the respect of his fellow Dino Squad team mates. Perhaps she should allow him and the Dino Squad to go after Caruso now. But then..they'd need her help, and what help would she be without her equipment? "However, you won't be able to pull off the mission by yourselves. You kids have never been to Raptor Dyne. I have, and I know what kind of traps Victor sets up. I will need to guide you, however at present time I would just slow you down." She pointed at her swollen ankle.

"No sweat," Max said, sounding confident. "We can handle it. We've faced Victor before."

Joanne nodded. "Yes, but that was before he knew you were really teenagers." The Dino Squad have confronted Victor before, in dino mode, and faced off with him. But the fights were short, and there was usually no biting or clawing. Victor had thought they were real dinosaurs, and he did not want to damage them. But now that he knows they are human, things might be different. "He went easy on you before. Now that he does now the truth, I fear he may not show as much mercy against you as he had in the past."

Rodger winced as he recalled what happened earlier that day. He could still feel the stinging pain from his injuries he received from Victor in that battle. "Yeah, I noticed.." He said softly. "He was one nasty fighter."

"I'm surprised he held back on you, Rodger." Moynihan said, which caught the boy by surprise.

"You mean he could do worse?" Rodger asked.

Moynihan slowly nodded. "I have faced Victor many times, and he is a more capable fighter than what he's shown you, Rodger." She knew that Victor could have easily killed the boy from his position. He had his sickle claws in the right place and he was in a position that gave him the most advantage. Rodger was not able to see him and could not buck Victor off of his back. If it weren't for Buzz taking Victor by surprise and knocking him off, Rodger's injuries would have been a lot more severe. "If he wanted to, he could have easily ended your life."

Rodger gulped as Moynihan told them this. He felt Victor was tough enough as he tried to get him off of him, but to think he could have done a lot more damage scared him. If Victor does not hold back next time, how much of a chance would he stand? "Oh man..." It was all he could manage to say.

"So what are we supposed to do?" Amanda said, finally speaking up. "Are we supposed to allow our son to stay who-knows-where with a monster all night?" By the sound of her voice, Moynihan could tell she was getting angry. "What kind of mentor are you, to leave one of your own pupils in a dangerous situation like that?!" Amanda spat as her husband held her back. If he didn't do this, Amanda might have gripped Moynihan roughly out of frustration.

Joanne Moynihan flinched at the woman's harsh words, feeling a guilty feeling well up inside her stomach. Gritting her teeth briefly as she felt the tension rise, she attempted to reason with Mrs. Caruso. "I have no intention on abandoning your son, Mrs. Caruso. I just fear that going after him now may not work to our advantage. It might destroy any chance we have of recovering your son alive."

"And what if you're wrong?!" Amanda snapped, baring her teeth. "What if by tomorrow Victor's killed him?!"

"Honey..." Jack said, attempting to settle his wife down. "Calm down..." Jack himself was ticked off with Moynihan deciding not to go after Irwin now, but he knew that yelling at her wouldn't make the situation better. He felt he could trust her, and understood that she would only make this decision if she felt it was for the best.

"Calm down?!" Amanda snapped. "How can I calm down when she..."

Jack pulled his wife closer to him. "Amanda, dear, she is only trying to help..."

"But she does have a point." Fiona said as she took a step forward. She glared at Moynihan, although not harshly, as she spoke, "Regardless of what you say, Ms. M, I don't think there's any excuse in leaving Caruso when we have the technology know to find him."

Ms. Moynihan lowered her head and closed her eyes.. So far the only ones who seemed to agree with her were Jack Caruso and Rodger. The others were still either unhappy with her decision or looking as though they were skeptical. She was still outnumbered four to three. And hearing what Fiona said made her feel even more guilty. She let out a sigh. Maybe she should let them go after Caruso now. She slowly lifted her head back up, her eyes now open. She scanned around the room, everyone's eyes on her. She didn't want to send them out during a time she couldn't help them. But then, she did know that the children did manage to complete a mission completely on their own before. She wondered how she could have forgotten about that. She knew what she had to do.

"...all right." Moynihan said, giving in. "I'll allow you children to go to Boston now. But, Buzz, Max, and Rodger, you must call your parents and tell them you'll be spending the night with me. They're probably worried enough as it is. Fiona, you may call your parents and tell them you and the others are going to Boston." She did have the children, earlier, call their parents and tell them what happened and why they were going to be home late. But now they'd have to call them and tell them they would be gone all night and might not be back until the next day. Fiona's parents knew about their secret and thus it was not necessary to hide anything from them. But Max's parents, Rodge's parents, and Buzz's parents were still oblivious and thus could not know where they were really going.

But although her new decision was met with approval, she couldn't help but wonder about one thing. Had she made the right decision?

Caruso took another bite of the sandwich that Victor's servant had given to him. He had only eaten a couple bites, even though he was very hungry. His mouth was so cut up that it was difficult for him to eat. Every mouth full of food stung him and he could feel tears of pain flowing down his face. Just eating was torture for him now. He looked at his sandwich and felt disgusted that it was coated with bits of his blood. The sandwich had quickly gained a salty taste to it.

He set the sandwich down and picked up the glass of water he was given. He took a sip, and immediately yelped in pain. While the water did feel cold, it still stung him. Nonetheless he swallowed the water, now salty-tasking due to the blood that mixed in with it. He set the glass down and looked at it, noticing some streams of red now floating in it. He groaned. How much longer must he suffer in this place? How long was it going to take his friends to find him? He looked up at the ceiling and wondered what time it must be now. Surely he must have been in this cell several hours, or so it seemed.

He glanced over at the door. Obviously it was shut now. The man was instructed to give him the food and then close the door. Caruso had been alone ever since then in this room. He shuddered a little. He was starting to feel lonely. A human wasn't meant for solitude for very long if they were accustomed to interaction like he was. He started to whimper a little as he pulled his legs to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. For the first time he started to feel real fear when being alone.

He began to think of the day ahead. From what Victor had already described for him, he wasn't looking forward to it. The experiments must be horrific and intense if Victor wanted him to have some strength left to endure them. Before Victor left to make a phone call, he had given Caruso a few details on what he should look forward to tomorrow. Victor had planned on testing a few of his new mutantsaurs on him and also wanted him to try a few experimental plants he planned on growing for his new dinosaur reign. But it wasn't these he was most worried about. There was a third experiment he would endure later on in the day.

Victor explained how he wanted to bring Moynihan back over to his side. Despite what he said about her and how he reacts when her name is mentioned, he, in a way, misses her, or at least her cunning intellect she displayed while with him. Victor missed the old Joanne, the one he had known sixty-five million years ago. Why, not so long ago, in Earth time, Joanne would have stood by him in his quest to reclaim the planet. But now she stands on the other side.

Dr. Veloci knew full well he'd never be able to bring Joanne back willingly, especially after his failed plan involving breaking her leg. That didn't work in his favors, instead worked against him by preventing the female Velociraptor from trusting him again. So Victor started to think about another solution. He only recently decided what he was going to do after getting inspiration from a source he would not specify.

And Victor did not go into detail with Caruso on what his idea was. And not knowing is what frightened the boy the most. Horrible mental images flooded his mind, and he could not get them to go away. What if Victor planned on torturing Joanne just like he had him? What if he would threaten his very life to force Joanne into surrendering herself to him? What if Victor had some sort of device upon which he could control Moynihan? What if he actually planned on killing her in the end?

The thought of Ms. Moynihan brought about a sharp guilt in the boy's stomach as he recalled what he said about her earlier. He just flat out called her a coward and a weakling. He bit his lip softly, and lowered his head. Why had he said those things about his mentor? She'd never did anything to him except try to help him, as well as his friends, become a better team, and better people. And what did he do in return? Insulted her..blatantly insulted her, just like how Max had insulted him that morning. Caruso rubbed his stomach a little to try and rid himself of the horrible mental pain, but it would not go away. He pressed his back against the wall and tilted his head so that his eyes were looking up at the ceiling.

What would she think of him if she ever found out what he'd said? He felt only slightly relieved that Moynihan was nowhere near him when he said that. But he feared that Victor would say that, perhaps to get Moynihan to turn against the Dino Squad. He trembled slightly at the thought. And what would his friends think of him if that did happen and they found out what he said? They might reject him, kick him off the team, or even attack him. And his parents...what would they think? Caruso gulped painfully, wincing as he applied pressure on some of the cuts inside his mouth. He'd probably be forced to live as a nomad, and avoid attacks from both sides. He'd have no one to trust, and nowhere to go.

No! He shouldn't think like that! Caruso swiftly shook his head to clear his mind. He shouldn't be jumping to conclusions now. And he shouldn't be giving into the loneliness and the guilt. That would have to wait. Right now the most important thing was to find a way to escape. He could see no way out, however. Not even his Stegosaurus form would be able to break free of these walls. And the door was locked from the outside. This room was nothing more than one giant cell. And he doubted Victor would overlook any part of it if he intended on keeping him here for a good long while.

Then Caruso shuddered once more. A terrible thought swept through him. What did Victor have planned for HIM when he was done with him? Caruso had pondered this before, and now thinking about it again, he was frightened even more. Caruso tried to keep his mind of it. Perhaps Victor deemed him too valuable, and wouldn't just kill him off. But then, what if he planned something worse than death? Caruso's thoughts went back to what Victor explained earlier, about the experiments he would endure.

He soon began to worry about the other two experiments that Victor had described more in detail than his third. He's faced countless mutantsaurs in the past. There was little that could take him off guard in regards to Victor's mutated animal experiments. But old fears began to rise back up when he allowed his thoughts to trail back in time, and uncovered the memory of their short camping trip. He had gotten Buzz and Rodger, as well as himself, all worked up over nothing. He had frightened Buzz with talk of mutantsaurs so big that even in dino mode they couldn't protect themselves, of mutantsaurs so small they crawled inside the ear and took over or ate their brain, and of mutantsaurs that could turn invisible. And in his blind fear he had nearly ran over the hillside.

Irwin tried to keep his sanity. In the camping trip, when he had let his fear get the best of him, he nearly seriously hurt himself. As Max explained to him, he had let his irrational fear take control. There was nothing in sight, and yet he'd reacted as if something was actually there. The young boy had felt pretty stupid afterward when he found out Buzz had only got his wings caught in a tree; he was never captured by any kind of giant mutantsaur. He knew Buzz felt pretty silly as well. Caruso could almost kick himself for mistaking Fiona's grunts for threatening mutantsaur sounds.

While they were driving home, Caruso had explained to the others more of what happened that night and why he and Buzz had wandered off in the first place. When he explained that he and Buzz were hearing strange noises, Fiona had spoken up, stating that she'd gone out that night to work a little on the SUV. Upon hearing this, Caruso and Buzz had looked at each other, and burst out laughing. Caruso smiled weakly at the memory. That silly mistake had gotten everyone in a cheerful mood as they couldn't stop laughing about it. While it was embarrassing, he and Buzz joined in the laughter, and felt better afterwards.

But that was the past, and this was the present. He was not in some situation that he only thought was dangerous because of his imagination. He was not in the company of his friends and wasn't getting any advice from Max or anyone else. He was not having some sort of nightmare and would wake up from it, no matter how much he wished this be true. He wasn't riding home in the SUV, getting ready to go back to his house. The reality now was he was alone. As much as he admitted Victor be right, he was alone, trapped, caged, with no way out. The danger was now very real, and no amount of wishing it all away will change anything.

Caruso had always thought of Victor as not much of a threat. Sure, he had admitted he found some of his mutantsaurs to be formidable and some of his ideas dangerous. But Victor had never gone out of his way to physically hurt anyone. At least he himself had never witnessed it, or even seen anything to suggest this. He had regarded Victor has nothing more than a show-off, someone who was just all talk and no action. But Caruso had been wrong. And he had found out the hard way that Victor was not someone to piss off. Victor did not just look intimidating, he knew how to back it up as well. Those claws weren't for show...

The young boy lifted his injured arm to examine it again. The skin around the cut had turned a red shade, and the wound was still sealed up. A hard, very dark red line now snaked across his arm, and was still very tender to touch. Caruso thought back to when he was on the ground and couldn't get back up because of this wound, and how Victor was forced to help him up, if one could even call it helping. Victor had called him pathetic, and had stated he'd never last in the dinosaur world. Caruso flinched a bit as the meaning of that statement started to sink in a little. Was Victor right? Maybe he really was pathetic, and weak. Maybe he wouldn't last very long in the world if dinosaurs ruled once more.

A painful feeling started to overtake the dark-haired teenager. He started to think about all the things he's done that had put himself in danger, or the others in danger. He had almost revealed himself on national television. If there was one thing Caruso craved more than anything, it was fame. He didn't see the dinosaur transformations as something they should hide. He understood that exposing themselves would have made it easier for Victor to track them down, but at the time, Caruso only saw this as a minor setback. He hadn't given transforming into a Stegosaurus on national television a second thought and had even lied to his friends. He had eventually stopped after thinking about Max's warning about the tangled web of lies.

He had cheated in a football game using his dinosaur powers all because he thought his dad wanted him to win. Caruso could have went through with it without using his dinosaur powers. So what if he had lost? His dad would have still loved him, and only wanted him to be happy. Why had he done something so reckless? He'd almost quit the team even though they were just trying to protect him. And because of him, Veloci had almost discovered the lighthouse. Although he was able to warn the guys just in time, he had almost gotten himself caught. He was lucky that his friends were nearby, and had saved him.

He had brought a crazed and selfish news reporter to the same place the Dino Squad were for a mission and almost considered exposing Max for fame. He still couldn't believe he ever wanted to be like O'Ryan. The man was nothing but a selfish jerk. But seeing the real O'Ryan did make Caruso realize just how selfish he'd been acting. And as he thought about this today, it made him feel worse knowing that he had actually considered, briefly, telling O'Ryan the truth just so he could be famous. He had never told Max this for fear he would lose his friendship with him.

He had taken advantage of his friends and asked for help with things he could have done on his own. And when Rump got loose and he really needed help, he had refused and ended up almost getting them all captured. Caruso still couldn't believe how selfish he had acted then. He acted for help too often. Ms. Moynihan had been right. Feeling embarrassed about asking for more help, he thought he could handle Rump on his own. But instead, he caused his friends to get captured. And then when he and Buzz freed them, he once again got them captured in order to pull off a stunt to throw off Victor. But what if it hadn't worked...? Moynihan had asked him this, and Caruso had never found an answer.

And he had bought five pets to use them for an internet show. But it did very poorly, and he had blamed the animals. If it weren't for his friends, he would have just dumped them outside. But he had put them all in very real danger because the animals mutated. And it wasn't just them he had put in danger. He had threatened the very life of Fiona's grandfather by leaving his infected goldfish in the koi pond. Fiona was angry with him for quite a while after that incident. He couldn't really blame her. His irresponsible behavior had almost gotten her grandfather killed. And the infected pets had caused Veloci to visit their own neighborhood, and had nearly gotten them caught. If it weren't for those two idiots that Victor had hired, Max would have gotten hurt.

And, unfortunately, there was more...

The more Caruso thought about what he had done, the guiltier he started to feel. After all he's put the others through, perhaps..perhaps he did deserve this fate. Perhaps it was better that they never find him. Victor was right. He was pathetic and weak. Maybe he was better off just staying here and letting Victor do whatever he wanted to him. Caruso didn't think he'd be able to face the others now. Maybe they weren't looking for him after all. Maybe they were staying at the lighthouse, discussing how things were better now that he was gone.

All he had ever caused for the others was trouble. Caruso felt tears form in his eyes as he started to reflect back to the things he'd done. The others probably hated him, and had only tolerated his presence because he could transform like they could. Maybe they had let him go with Victor on purpose just to be free of him. Maybe they had never given it their all, had allowed the Troodon and Michelle defeat them so Victor could capture him.

But..if they truly didn't care about him, why had they tried so hard to keep Victor from taking him? When he was captured after the football game, Max and Fiona had showed up to pull him free. And this morning, when the claw grabbed him once more, the others, despite their injuries, had tried so hard to save him. Why would they give it their all just to save him if they hated him? The answer was obvious. As he thought about it, he started to smile a little, and wiped the tears from his eyes. Despite all he's put them through, one thing remained the same. He was their friend.

As Caruso began to calm himself down, he could hear the door opening up again. He felt a little confused. He thought Victor hadn't planned on doing anything with him tonight. He wondered if Victor had truly changed his mind. Caruso started to feel his heart race at the thought. And he was about to learn just how right that thought was. He watched the door slowly open up, and a shadowy figure stepped inside the large cell. While the darkness hid most of the figure, it didn't take him long to know it was Victor. The mad scientist stood before him, a dark grin on his face.

The young boy quickly struggled to his feet, and backed up to the wall. "Victor..." Caruso managed to say through his pain. It couldn't have been morning just yet. He hadn't completely finished his meal yet, and he hadn't even gotten any sleep. "What's going on?"

Victor's smirk grew larger as he pointed to a watch he was wearing on his hand. "It's time."

"But it can't be..." Caruso tried to protest. "It's not even morning yet."

"It's midnight." Victor said as he approached the young boy.

"It's not morning..." Caruso said as he tried to keep his distance from the Velociraptor. "You said the experiments wouldn't start until morning."

Victor chuckled. He felt quite amused at how the boy was trying to talk his way out of this. He wasn't at all surprised at the boy's confusion. Humans were surely not the brightest on this planet. Their thought process was too different from a dinosaur's. "Midnight is morning, you hairless monkey." Victor stated casually, shrugging his shoulders. In a taunting manner, he added, "Please don't tell me you're too dense to know that." It would not really surprise him if Caruso had told him he didn't know. Humans were pretty dense creatures as far as he was concerned.

As he had Caruso backed up into a corner, he moved an arm from behind and revealed the human bridle once more. Caruso's eyes widened, and he attempted to get away. Using whatever strength he still had, he pushed against Victor to knock him back a little, and attempted to bolt towards the still open door, ignoring what Victor had told him hours ago. But just as he reached the door, a blur of black and red filled his field of vision, and he felt himself knocked back by something smooth and thick.

'Foolish human.' Caruso heard in his mind. He slowly looked up from the ground to see a large red Velociraptor standing before him. In his claw, he still held the bridle with ease. The raptor's mouth was partly open in a dinosaurian smile. The fierce glare, so similar to an eagle's, bore through him like a drill, as though he was reading his mind. 'You can't run from me.'

Caruso tried to push himself up, using his arms for support, but he was pushed into the ground and held in place by Veloci's strong raptor leg. Caruso grabbed the leg with his hands and attempted to pry the leg off. But the foot was firmly planted on his chest, and his efforts to move it off of him was met with a cold dinosaurian laughter from Victor. In response to his feeble efforts, the scientist applied a lot more pressure, causing Irwin to gasp for air as it started to become difficult for him to take in air. He looked up at Victor with wide-eyes, making Victor smirk a little more at the spark of fear in them.

'Why don't you just give in?' Victor questioned the boy. He was quickly growing annoyed with how the boy was struggling underneath him. He was almost disgusted to the point of just kicking the boy with his sickle claw. But he restrained himself. He also felt satisfied, feeling even more powerful that he had the boy pinned down in a vulnerable position. He'd often force some of his less competent or rebellious workers into this position to show them who was boss.

"I...I..." Caruso started, but then gritted his teeth as the pressure on his chest made it increasingly difficult for him to even breathe, let alone speak. His arms were growing tired from pushing and pulling, and his feet weren't doing any good. None of his kicks seem to be effecting Veloci in the slightest. Instead, they seem to only amuse and annoy him. In desperation, and a last ditch effort, Caruso's eyes started to glow.

Victor's eyes widened a little, but soon narrowed as his dinosaurian smirk spread across his maw. This is the moment he had been waiting for. Caruso was finally giving in and transforming into a Stegosaurus. Victor gazed down at the bridle. In Stegosaurus form, Caruso would appear too large for it. But he need not worry. The bridle could be adjusted in size to fit the large herbivore. He would have to hurry though. The Stegosaurus's jaws were filled with sharp teeth. Though they were designed for cutting plants, they could do some serious damage if he bit him. And the Stegosaurus's tail was just as dangerous. Those spikes weren't there for show. Victor knew he must bind both the jaws and tail of Caruso's dinosaur form if he wanted any chance at dominating the boy.

Caruso's muscles in his arms and legs grew in size as he allowed some of his dinosaur form to take over. Baring his teeth, the boy gripped Victor's leg with newfound strength. He squeezed the leg tightly, causing Victor to flinch in pain. He then used his dino strength to push Victor off of him. The red raptor stumbled across the floor, and scrambled to his feet. He nearly let go of the bridle, and winced as he felt some of the metal spikes scrape across his arm, drawing a little blood. He glanced down at the small, insignificant injury, and snorted.

'You dare try to injure me?' Victor said, his eyes narrowed into slits. 'You'll have to do better than that.' Victor was a little puzzled that the boy continued to try to find some way to defy him. How could something so weak like that boy still have enough courage to fight back against a superior being like himself?

"I...will." Caruso said as his skin started to change color and his size increased dramatically as his body was overcome with a bluish glow.

Victor watched as the transformation took place. So this is how his perfect dinosaurs kept appearing seemingly out of nowhere. Victor was suddenly reminded of himself as he watched the transformation. And this only allowed his anger to eat away at him a bit more. He would never understand why these five children didn't realize the true potential of their dinosaur forms. And he'd definitely not understand why they hadn't join up with him to be part of the dominant species. Instead they waste their time defending humanity; an effort that will be all for nothing, for he will succeed.

With a bellow, Caruso's transformation was complete. He stood over Victor, like an elephant standing over a large polar bear, and bellowed again. With his large red plates, Victor would have a difficult time jumping into his back. His head was armed with his Stegosaurus teeth, and his tail had large spikes that he could easily drive into the smaller dinosaur standing in front of him.

'Impressive...' Victor smirked as he looked the Stegosaurus over, judging his strength with his calculating mind. 'But I don't think you can comprehend its power.'

'Oh really?' Caruso snarled. 'How's this for not being able to comprehend?'

Caruso lifted up his long tail and quickly turned to his side. This brought the tail closer to Victor for a strike. In a second, he leveled his tail above Victor and quickly slammed the tail down. It missed Victor, and smashed into the hard floor, dust being kicked up. Despite the stinging pain he felt in the tail, he went for another blow. Again he missed Victor and slammed his tail into the ground. The Velociraptor was moving too quickly for him. He bared his teeth in frustration as the Velociraptor chortled in his mind.

'You may have the body of a Stegosaurus.' Victor explained as he walked over, holding the bridle. 'But you do not have the mind of a Stegosaurus. You have not yet unlocked its true potential.'

'What are you talking about?' Caruso asked.

Victor shook his head slowly. 'What I'm saying is this: You and your friends may be able to transform into dinosaurs. But you do not know everything your forms can do. You don't naturally know their combat moves, all their strengths, all their weaknesses. So despite all the times you have fought against my creations, you and your pathetic friends have yet to unlock the full power of the dinosaur.' Victor now stood about a foot from Caruso's head. He lowered his own so that his eyes stared straight into the boy's. 'You're all still too weak to resist me, let alone fight me. That's how I was almost able to kill your Styracosaurus friend.'

Caruso hissed in anger. 'That was a coward's move! Striking someone from behind..'

'A coward's move?' Victor asked in a sarcastic tone. 'Only to a human. In the dinosaur world, there's no such thing as a coward's move.' He pressed his head against Caruso's, his eyes inches away from his. 'And if you continue to live by those rules, then you'll never be a match for me.' He told the boy.

Caruso arched his back, brandishing his plates threateningly. His tail was raised high up in the air, and swung it a few times. 'I'm larger than you are!' He declared as he snapped his jaws at Victor's head.

The red raptor quickly snapped his head back, avoiding the clamping jaws of the Stegosaurus. 'You are also a lot slower than I am.' Victor retorted in a raptor-like chuckle. Caruso snarled at him, but offered no comeback. Victor grinned viciously as he reached out with a clawed hand and placed it on Caruso's head, taking the chance of him nearly losing that limb. But he was confident enough in that Caruso's Stegosaurus form would be too slow for him, and he'd be able to pull his arm away to safety. He pressed his talons into the top of the kid's maw, causing him to wince in pain. 'I might be smaller, but I am more than a match for you.' To reinforce his dominance, the Velociraptor's three long fingers closed around the boy's already injured mouth and squeezed tightly, closing the jaws shut.

Caruso's eyes widened as he felt the scaly fingers of the villain keep his mouth shut. He attempted to open up his jaws, but found he could barely move them as long as Victor kept his grip on him. This was a weakness he hadn't known about. A Stegosaurus's jaws were like an alligator's. The power went into closing the jaws, not opening them. He could feel his heart start to race a little, and he shook his head violently left and right. Victor gritted his teeth as he tried to keep his grip on the dinosaur's mouth. But with another shake of the head, Caruso managed to knock Victor into the ground hard enough to force him to let go.

Caruso immediately opened up his mouth, opening and closing it a few times. Each time, he widened his jaws at different lengths, stretching out the masseter that attacked the base of his jaws to his skull. He was testing his jaws to make sure they hadn't received any new injuries. He'd suffered enough blows to that area from the bridle he had to wear for a while that day.

Victor was back on his feet now. His eyes were narrowed, and yet his mouth was slightly open, a dinosaurian laugh. He had to admit, the kid was smart enough to know how to knock him off. But then again that was probably just dumb luck. He looked like he was panicking. The red dinosaur snorted. If the boy was scared of having his mouth tied shut, then he would be petrified of one particular experiment he had planned for him, and Ms. Moynihan as well, if he is able to get close enough to her that is.

Victor wondered, to himself, if the other members of this Dino Squad were as resilient. Would they stand up to him just as this human had, and try to fight him even though they have not yet mastered their dinosaur forms? And just how well do they work as a team? He frowned slightly as he recalled how unorganized their fighting seemed to be. At least that's not any kind of organization he'd see executed by a Velociraptor pack. No wonder Michelle and Oscura were able to win so easily.

What's the matter, human?' Victor said to Caruso in thought-speak. 'Are you unable to handle a few seconds not being able to use that big mouth of yours?'

Caruso bared his teeth at the insult. 'Look who's talking, Mr. I-Am-A-Velociraptor-Who-Hates-Humans-And-Yet-Needs -Humans-To-Fulfill-My-Ultimate-Plan-Because-I-Am-W eak-Without-Them.' He retorted, taking a step forward as he spoke to reinforce his statement.

Caruso quickly regretted his remark. After he said that insult, he could see that Victor was shaking visibly. But it wasn't because he was cold. It was anger. Victor's scaly lips were pulled up to reveal his pink gums and the razor sharp teeth that lined his jaws. Saliva started to drip from the tip of his mouth, and his hands tensed up, the tips of the claws reflecting some light. The red and beige dinosaur arched his back like a cat, the tail raised high into the air. He opened his jaws and let out a horrible sound that seemed to be a cross between a gator's hiss and a bird's call.

Victor was furious this..this human would dare say such a thing to him. Just what did he know?! So what if he worked with humans? How else was he going to achieve his goal? The little urchin knew little about the real world. He was just a primate, just a hairless mammal. He couldn't being to understand his point of view. He was as closed-minded as all the other humans Victor had the unfortunate luck of getting stuck working with. If the boy continued up this attitude...Victor would have to struggle against his urge to kill the boy.

'Why you little...' Victor said as he seethed through his fangs. 'Must I teach you a lesson yet again?' He brought his dinosaur hands forward, facing one another, brandishing the talons in the air threateningly. 'If you keep this up, I may not leave anything behind for your friends to find...' Caruso's eyes widened at that statement.

As Victor uttered another low growl, Caruso took a step back, his confidence starting to wither. He was starting to feel sick to his stomach. He wondered if it was that sandwich he had to eat. He wondered if it was the fear he was feeling now. Caruso knew he shouldn't give up, and shouldn't give into this monster standing in front of him. But he also knew that if he kept acting the way he was now, he might not get out of this situation alive.

Perhaps he needn't totally give in. Maybe he could trick Victor into thinking he had given in. He thought about this idea before, but wasn't one hundred percent sure it would be wise to go through with it. If it failed, Victor could become even more vicious in..whatever he was doing, breaking his spirit perhaps. Caruso tentatively licked one of the small wounds on his lips, wincing at the slight pain that still hung there. If Victor could be this vicious when he is still more or less under control, he wasn't sure if he wanted to witness how he could be when he releases his anger all at once on him.

Caruso lowered his tail, and let out a low sigh of defeat. He took a step forward once again, but lacking the self-confidence and emphasis that it had just moments earlier. With eyes closed, but head still raised, Caruso delivered his message, hoping it would be convincing enough to soothe the savage Velociraptor. '..all right. You win.'

At once, Victor's tail lowered down, his eyes narrowing a little. But his snarl had disappeared, replaced with an eerie smile. He flashed a glowing blue and white, and soon reverted back into his human disguise. The same expression remained on his face. "There's a good lad." He said softly as he held the bridle up once more and started to walk towards the bluish purple Stegosaurus, who did nothing more but stand there and allowed the scientist to approach him.

"Just how long is it going to take us to reach Boston?" Buzz asked, starting to feel a little sleepy. It was already passed midnight, and they still hadn't arrived to Boston. They had checked the road maps and determined it would only take an hour to a couple hours to get there. And he would think that they would get there faster since not many people are driving at night.

"Relax, Buzz." Rodger said. He was the one in the lead as he was the one who looked over the directions the most, and had much of it memorized. It's days like these that it pays to be a geek, he thought to himself as he smiled softly. "Our bikes can't go the same speed as cars can. It will take us a little longer to reach Boston. But don't worry, we'll be there soon."

"I really hope you're right." Buzz said, thinking about Caruso. "If we don't get there soon..."

"I know, Buzz. I know..." Rodger said softly.

He didn't say anything after that. He knew he couldn't spend too much time worrying about whether or not they'd get there too late. He had to focus on actually getting there. The others were counting on him to guide them to their destination. But once they arrived, just what would they do? Wander around and knock on doors, asking for directions? Even when they arrived in Boston, they still had no idea where to look for their missing friend. He could be anywhere. And folks may not be entirely willing to help total strangers find someone they had never met before.

They had ultimately decided not to bring the yellow SUV. They felt it might be a little less suspicious of they took their dinosaur-like motorcycles and, once they get to Boston, part ways. Each of them would look in a different section of the large city. A single person wandering around would be less suspicious than a group, even if it was just five individuals. They hoped this would also decrease their chances of being spotted by Victor. If Moynihan was right, they would have to be careful around the entire city, especially around Raptor Dyne. They could only hope that no one would take notice to the unusual design of their bikes, and hope that no one would connect the dots, sort of speak.

Behind Rodger and Buzz were Max and Fiona. The two hadn't spoken much since they began their trip, which was a bit unusual, especially for Max. The jock was usually the one to take charge, and wasn't afraid to do so. The reason why Max was silent was because he had this feeling of guilt growing up inside of him. He was the leader. He felt he should have been able to stop all this from happening in the first place. Why hadn't he seen the warning signs as Caruso had? Why hadn't he listened to Caruso in the first place? And why did he yell at him in such a harsh manner? Max swallowed hard as he felt himself starting to feel ill due to the negative emotions wearing him down.

Fiona on the other hand wasn't feeling guilty for all the same reasons Max was. Like everyone else, she was feeling guilty that she wasn't able to stop Veloci from taking Caruso with him. Like the others, she was right there, watching as the claw dropped the Stegosaurus into the large red truck. All she could do was reach out meekly with her yellow-skinned arm, feebly trying to get close enough to grab something to save Caruso. But the poison that was coursing through her system at the time had made her too weak, and she quickly passed out. And now she was feeling a sense of dread, a foreboding of sorts. She couldn't shake off the feeling that they might arrive too late. But she dare not share this thought with the others.

As she shook those thoughts out of her mind, she noticed, on the horizon, a series of small whtie dots. "Hey I think I see lights." Fiona said, moving her head forward a little more to get a better look.

"I think you're right." Max said to her. "I see them too." The closer they got, the larger the lights seemed to get. And he eventually started to see what appeared to be tall structures, lights shining from them, and he could just slightly make out smaller, moving light that could only be from cars riding along the roads.

"Looks like we're here." Buzz said enthusiastically, grinning. "Now we can rescue Irwin..err..I mean Caruso." Buzz recalled how Caruso made him promise not to call him Irwin after he had found out.

"Yes, but remember, we have to find him first. And finding Caruso in this big city is not going to be easy." Rodger noted. In such a large city, they would have to determine which places are the best to check first, and if Caruso doesn't turn up in any of those places, they would have look elsewhere. Maybe they should check the least likely places first. If Victor wished to hide Caruso from them, he'd probably pick a place he'd never suspect them to look.

"Yeah I know." Buzz replied, his smile disappearing from his face.

"Just remember, Buzz... Things in real life aren't a fairy tale." Rodger said solemnly. "We may not even find Caruso at all..."

Buzz narrowed his eyes angrily. "What are you saying? That we should just give up?"

"No!" Rodger said quickly. "Not at all..it's just that..."

Rolf Maxwell noticed the tension between the two boys up front and decided to try to change the subject before things could escalate in a downward spiral. He revved his engine and went a little faster, just enough to get a little closer to Rodger and Buzz. He got in between them, and looked at each of them before stating, "Come on guys, we're here at least. Let's focus more on finding Caruso and less on trying to start a fight with each other."

"I know that Max...I'm sorry. " Rodger said, feeling a little guilty for acting negative seconds ago. "It's just that I can't shake off this feeling that...we may be too late."

"I..." Fiona spoke up, almost regretting doing so. But since she had already started to say  
something, she might as well finish her sentence. She would feel awkward if she just left the others in silence like that. "I feel the same way. I'm sure it's just because we're just all nervous and stressed."

"Fiona's right, you guys." Max said, trying to sound like his usual, confident self, trying to be a leader once again. "We can't let ourselves be brought down by these fears." He gazed at each individual he was with before continuing. "If we continue to get dragged down by these fears, we'll never find Caruso. We must remain focused." He gestured forward, a physical urge to get the others to move on instead of slowing down to chat. "Come on. Time is of the essence."

The remaining time it took for the team to reach Boston, which was only around five to eight minutes, was spent in silence. Inside their minds they replayed the plans over and over, and all hoped they wouldn't forget any detail. Just in case, they had all agreed to stop somewhere in Boston real quick to discuss their plans one more time. It would have to be someplace secure however. They didn't know who in Boston was working for Victor. They would have to choose a place that was not accessible to the public. This of course meant breaking the law. But it's not like they hadn't done it before, for the sake of the planet.

Max however openly opposed to the idea of breaking the law. The others seemed upset with him, and wondered why he wouldn't take the risk. Max explained to them that they shouldn't be drawing attention to themselves. If they had committed any felony in this city, they would possibly reveal their position to Victor, and their efforts would have been in vain. He had also pressured the others not to transform. They needn't be told twice. They all knew Victor had tracking equipment and would spot them in a heartbeat if they were to transform. Even small changes like transforming a hand or foot would be detected, and they would have to dodge dozens of officials from Raptor Dyne, as well as Victor himself.

He suggested they go into a wooded area. There was a place like that in Boston, a park, probably the Boston Common. At this time of night there wouldn't be a lot of people there. And the foliage would provide great cover in case they needed to hide from someone. The others eventually agreed, although they seemed a little hesitant. Max felt a sharp pang at this. He wondered if his leadership qualities were diminishing. He wondered if they would decide on a new leader..no. They wouldn't do that. He was still the leader. But that means that he was experiencing the most pressure. Every decision was weighted on his shoulders. Successfully pulling off the rescue mission was now in his hands. He could only hope he wouldn't mess up.

As they drove into the city, they could see just how active it was at night. To their disappointment, even though it was past midnight now, the city was almost as active as it would be in the daytime. This would mean there might be some people in the park as well. Max frowned. If they couldn't go to the park, where else could they go where there'd be no people to spy on them? He was starting to feel pressured as a few people walking on the sidewalks stopped and stared at him and his friends briefly before moving on. And he could tell the others weren't exactly liking the attention either. He whispered to them to just keep going until they could find a safe place to talk. It was the best that they could do for now.

The group of friends tried their best to ignore the people watching them almost warily, as if they were scared of them, and also tried to ignore people honking their horns to get them to move faster. The Dino Squad were slowing down traffic a little, and it didn't help that these people were in a big hurry to get somewhere. One of them eventually got sick of waiting and swerved in front of them, and almost caused Buzz to fall off his bike and get seriously hurt. The driver never stopped, they just kept on driving by. Buzz was all right, but startled and a little shaken up. After this incident, a few other cars started to swerve by, and it quickly became a hassle to try to avoid them. Max was growing frustrated. They would never find Caruso at this rate. He and the others made a miscalculation. They had all believed that the city would be nearly empty at night. But it was still active, and he quickly realized it would become increasingly difficult to discuss the plans somewhere safe.

So he made a new decision. They wouldn't attempt to find someplace to talk in safety. They would have no choice but to discuss it out in the open. They really had no other choice. And with all this noise, what from the car engines and people chatting, who is going to hear them?

"Guys, you all remember the plan, right?" Max asked, using the helmets' transmitters to communicate with the others.

"Shhh...!" Fiona hissed, looking cautiously around. "Everyone is looking at us."

"Yeah. We can't make a scene, yo." Rodger said, feeling uncomfortable with the people still watching them. While this was only brief, it wasn't very reassuring to him. Any one of these people could be working for Veloci. "And any one person here could be one of Victor's men. If we do anything suspicious, they would alert him."

"Guys," Buzz said, "If any of these guys worked for Victor, wouldn't they have already contacted him?" He glanced slightly towards the front of his motorbike, which looked very dinosaurian in appearance. "I mean wouldn't our bikes give us away?"

"Thanks Buzz..." Fiona said in a sarcastic tone. "I feel so much better now."

"I'm sorry." Buzz responded in an apologetic tone.

Max slowly shook his head. "Look you guys, it doesn't look like we are going to find any place to discuss the plan. So we might as well do it now. It's too noisy here anyway. Who is going to hear us?"

Buzz made an attempt at a joke. "Someone who knows how to make a cross connection?"

"Buzz!" Fiona scolded again, gritting her teeth a little. "That's not funny!" But as he mentioned the cross connection, she wondered if he could be right. If anyone in this city knew how to do that, they could pick up their signal, and be listening in to everything they were saying. Suddenly she was feeling even less safe than before. She cautiously glanced around her, but couldn't see anything different than what they were experiencing the minute they set foot in the city.

Fiona knew that the reason why so many people were looking at them had probably less to do with the fact they were on motorbikes and more to do with the appearance of the bikes. People around here never seen them before. It seems to be human nature to stare at something new and unusual. She just hoped that no one here would discuss this someplace where Veloci or one of his men would hear about it. They still had to find someway to locate Caruso quickly and without being spotted. But of course she thought this may not be possible.

As Moynihan had pointed out, Victor did have security in Raptor Dyne and would most likely have security up where ever he was hiding Caruso. As soon as they got within a certain distance, the alarms could go off, or Victor would spot them, or perhaps one of his workers. They would need to find someway to bypass the security. And she believed she knew how they could do that. She had discussed this with Max briefly before they had left. They could have Buzz distract Veloci. Since he could fly, he would be the fastest. The distraction might not last long, but it may buy them precious seconds to get inside the building.

Buzz hung his head. "I'm sorry." He said, apologizing to Fiona yet again. "I'm just..."

Fiona interrupted him. "Just forget it Buzz. We'll discuss it later." Although a little hurt at getting cut off so abruptly, Buzz nodded his head and didn't say another word. Fiona gave him a brief look of sympathy, and then turned to Rodger. "Rodger, do you know where Raptor Dyne is?"

Of course, they all knew it was in Boston. But they didn't know the exact address. It was most likely going to be somewhere in the middle of the city, where most of the other companies were as well. Fiona felt that Rodger would be the most likely person, among this group, who'd know the location of the building. They had forgotten to ask Moynihan for directions and now it was far too late to go back to ask for her assistance. Rodger had known about Raptor Dyne from the start. And being a scientific geek as he is, he would probably have been very interested in Raptor Dyne, and perhaps wrote down the address somewhere. Perhaps he had even considered working for them, but surely that dream would have passed after he found out the truth of that place.

And Rodger would have known Fiona's suspicions would have been right. He had been considering working with Raptor Dyne some years ago. He had respected the company for their supposed efforts to benefit mankind. He had gotten interested in science and technology because of this company. He had once looked up to Victor, and had once wanted to be more like him. The person he saw was a man of authority, calm and assertive and persuasive, someone who cared deeply about the fate of humanity. But he was dreadfully disappointed when he had learned the truth. This was all a front, a trick, an illusion. Rodger took a long time to completely recover from the shock of learning the truth about Raptor Dyne. The feeling of sickness wouldn't go away for a long time, and he wondered if he'd ever feel better.

And Fiona bringing up the address only brought back some of these feelings once again. He had longed to forget about Raptor Dyne and Victor. But until he was stopped, there was no way he could hide from this. He couldn't blame Fiona. It wasn't her fault really. This information would be very important indeed. Once they found the building, all they would need to do was search the area around there. Perhaps they didn't need to split up after all. But Rodger knew they should still go with splitting up anyway. There was still that chance Victor hid Caruso further away from the company to throw them off. He narrowed his eyes, thinking to himself that Victor would have to do a lot more to discourage them.

"It's been a long time since I've looked at the address." Rodger admitted finally after a few seconds. "I think it was somewhere close by the Paramount Theatre." He felt bad he couldn't be any more specific. There were a lot of other buildings around Paramount Theatre.

"You think or you know?" Fiona asked. She was hoping a more positive, definite answer.

"At least it's a start." Max pointed out, trying to sound more enthusiastic. "We can focus our search around that area."

"Should we still split up?" Buzz spoke up. "Or are we all just going to search around Boston Theatre together?"

"Good question, Buzz." Max said. "I think we should still split up. Victor might have hidden Caruso somewhere else." He didn't mention this, but splitting up might be a risk as well. What if someone was caught and unable to tell them where they were taken to? He suddenly frowned. Perhaps splitting up wasn't such a good idea. Maybe it would be safer if they went in pairs. "On second thought, perhaps we should search in groups of two, just to be on the safe side. Rodger, you and Buzz look around Paramount Theatre to see if you can find Raptor Dyne or any signs of Caruso. Fiona and I will look on the other side of town to see if we can find any clues there."

The others nodded, and followed his instructions without question. As they came to an intersection, they parted ways. Buzz and Rodger took off in the direction where they believed Paramount Theatre was located and hopefully locate Raptor Dyne or useful clues. Fiona and Max headed out towards the other side of the city to see if they could find any place that was big enough to hold a Stegosaurus but inconspicuous enough to avoid wandering eyes.

Within about ten minutes later, Buzz and Rodger had arrived at Paramount Theatre. They now stood in front of a huge building with a large white board with lights shining around it. The bright white board displayed movie information. Above this structure was a tall teal-colored sign with the name PARAMOUNT written downward. The two teens stood for a few seconds, looking up and staring at the building. They had never been to Paramount Theatre before. They took note of how huge this place was, and wondered if Victor could have stationed Caruso here.

But the thought was quickly shaken from their thoughts. There was no way Victor could have hidden Caruso here. The building was huge, sure, but many people visited here everyday. There was no way a Stegosaurus would have gone unnoticed. And it didn't seem there was any entrance large enough for Caruso anyway, provided he stayed in dino mode. Buzz and Rodger knew they had to focus on the mission. They tore their gaze from Paramount Theatre and began to look at the environment surrounding the building. They started to look for anything that could help them find Caruso. They tried to find a building that had telltale signs of being Raptor Dyne. They looked carefully at the buildings next to Paramount Theatre but found nothing suspicious about them, at least in appearance.

The teens were thankful that there weren't too many in this part of town right now, so at least they won't have people staring at them so much now. There was probably some sale going on and that's why people were still up. Though a more logical explanation, Rodger thought, is simply they have to work or are going home from work. But the thought of a sale did bring back memories of not so long ago for Buzz. He had been told of how Caruso had gotten upset that he was given more time while he had to wait even longer. Buzz started to feel guilty now just thinking about it.

"Hey..Buzz? Are you listening?" He heard Rodger say. He shook his head and quickly realized where he was. He rubbed his head. He must have spaced out there for some reason. "Buzz..are you there..?"

"Oh what?" Buzz responded.

"Where were you?" Rodger asked. "I've been trying to talk to you for the past couple minutes. Did you fall asleep or something?"

"I guess I'm...a little worried." Buzz smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry."

Buzz hadn't realized that he had been standing on the sidewalk almost perfectly still for several minutes. He had been unresponsive to Rodger's calls, and his eyes had a faraway look in them. Buzz had become lost in his thoughts and his own guilt. This wasn't like him, and it worried Rodger. Buzz just didn't seem like the type to just zone out like that. At least he doesn't recall ever seeing it himself. But then again there was that camping incident. Buzz had gotten totally freaked out there. So maybe he shouldn't be too surprised.

Rodger felt himself become a little angry at the memory of that camp trip. He could recall vividly how Caruso just stormed into camp, seemingly running away from something dangerous. He had been foolish enough to follow Caruso and run for what seemed to be hours. He nearly ran over a cliff running away from something that wasn't even there. He'd nearly gotten himself killed because of Caruso. And he had later found out that it was Caruso who started the whole thing. Buzz had explained that it was Caruso who began saying things about what could be out in the forest. So in the end it seemed to be all Caruso's fault.

But could he really put the whole blame on the boy? Caruso was just frightened. And Rodger himself would be lying if he said he wasn't scared too. Rodger had been scared, even before Caruso had panicked in the night. They were all scared, although not largely because of the mutantsaurs they had gone there to find. It was because they were literally blind. Rodger, Caruso, and Buzz had been so eager to set up camp and get everything plugged in that they had caused a short circuit and lost all their equipment that they had brought with them. And because of that, they had been completely unaware that Victor was still in the vicinity.

And they had nearly been spotted by Victor. Rodger suddenly felt a little grateful that he and Caruso nearly went over that cliff. The plan to lure Victor there had worked, and they had trapped him in his own vehicle. As they had took off, they could hear Victor's Velociraptor screeches and hisses, and eventually his bittered order for his men to free him. Rodger didn't know just how long he was stuck there, but it would have been a good long while because Max had knocked over the Raptor Dyne SUV and bit off the tail section of the helicopter, which pretty much stranded the two men where they were. And they were probably still shaken up by Max being so close to them to even notice the distress call from Victor.

Rodger started to feel a little guilty for becoming mad at Caruso. And right now wasn't a really good time to start thinking negatively about the boy. Right now Caruso was in trouble. His life was in danger, Rodger could sense that, as well as everyone else. And the camping trip had occurred a couple years ago. There was no sense in worrying about what has passed, and he should concern himself with what was going on right now. He attempted to smile at Buzz, trying to get him to cheer up a little. He didn't want him to feel bad.

"Oh, don't be sorry, Buzz." Rodger said, trying to console the punk teenager. He didn't like to see any of his friends like this. "I know you're worried about Caruso. So am I." He hoped this would provide some consolance to the green-haired teen.

Buzz sighed. "What if we arrive too late?"

"We won't." Rodger said with as much confidence in his voice as he could muster. He wasn't really sure if he would end up being right or wrong, but he couldn't show doubt in front of Buzz. He didn't want to make him feel even worse.

Buzz turned his back to Rodger as he began to walk a few steps along the sidewalk. Even though Rodger had tried his best to sound like he was so sure of them rescuing their fame-crazed friend, Buzz didn't feel so convinced. He had seen horror movies, and knew that the good guys do not always win. This was no fairy tale. It was reality. "How can you be so certain?" He asked the african-american as he stopped in his tracks, still standing in front of the Paramount Theatre. He slowly turned his head to glance over his shoulder. Rodger was coming towards him, a look of sympathy on his face. The green-haired teen narrowed his eyes slightly. "You have been wrong before. What if this is one of those times?"

"Buzz..I..." Rodger started to say before getting interrupted by Buzz.

"The worst of it has got to be the time when you had alerted us to a report of mutantsaurs that were in the football field, but when we had actually gone there, we found out it was a trap! Do you remember that?" Buzz asked Rodger insistently.

"I...yes..." Rodger said, lowering his head and closing his eyes. He had made mistakes in the past. What human wouldn't make a mistake? But this one, he would never stop feeling horrible about. They usually had Caruso to blame for such incidents. But this time..this time it was Rodger's fault. He should have seen it coming. He should have been more skeptical. But he head lead his team mates into a trap.

Rodger had been working in Moynihan's lighthouse overtime to do some make-up work he had missed because he had been sick for a few days. The others had already said goodbye to Moynihan and had already left to go home. The old woman had gone downstairs, although Rodger was not sure where she disappeared to. When he tried to continue his work, he was constantly interrupted by a loud beeping sound. He tried to ignore it at first, but the beeping was persistent and wouldn't stop. It took him a few seconds later to realize it was the mutantsaur alert. Immediately dropping what he was doing, he quickly ran over to the computer to find out what the computer had picked up.

There were several small red dots flashing in one location. Rodger moved the cursor over the zoom option and enlargened the map so that it was big enough for him to see where the dots were originating from. His eyes had widened when he realized the mutantsaurs were located in Kittery Point, right in the football field. From the look of things, it seemed there were at least five mutantsaurs in that location. He knew the others were probably relaxing in their homes after another day of training with Moynihan, but he couldn't just let this mutantsaurs get captured by Victor.

So he called up the others and informed them what was going on. Although a couple sounded a little groggy, probably because they were taking a short nap, they didn't waste much time getting over to the lighthouse to meet up with Rodger. He and the others got on their motorbikes and headed out to the school. They had arrived in the football field, and cautiously headed out. Sure enough, there were five mutantsaurs in the field. They were rather large in size, and appeared to be some type of mutant beaver. They growled and snapped at the children, but made no movement towards them.

Since they were not in one place, Max suggested they try to force the mutant beavers closer together. Rodger had suggested they all go dino and circle the beavers and force them into a small area. Usually Max would not like this idea. They had nearly lose a few mutantsaurs in the past by using this tactic. But the football field was in an enclosed area. The mutant beavers would have had a hard time getting out, despite their new size and strength. So they all transformed, and began to circle the mutated creatures. Quickly it became obvious that something was very wrong. The beavers hadn't moved, not even to look at them as they were circled. There was no eye contact, no change in position, no nothing.

Caruso had become a little agitated by the fact that they weren't moving. So he had tried a more physical approach. He charged towards one of the giant beavers in an attempt to knock them down. But when he swung at them with his spiked tail, he was shocked to see that the tail had gone straight through. He tried again to attack, but only met air. The others became confused, and they each started to attack one of the mutantsaurs. All of their attacks merely went through the beavers. They quickly realized the terrible truth. The beavers were holograms! They had walked straight into a trap!

The beavers quickly went static and faded from view, like an old television set losing power. No sooner had they disappeared, a large sticky net made of tough rope and covered in tar had been dropped onto them. They started to bellow in fright as they felt themselves being pulled onto the ground, and become entangled in the large net. They started to bite and claw at the netting that entrapped them, but no matter how hard they tried, the rope just wouldn't break. And the more they struggled, the more net became stuck to their skin, and they became even more entangled in the tar-covered trap.

They heard the sound of a helicopter approaching, and looked up to see Victor's copter heading down towards them. As the machine drew to a stop on the ground, they started to panic more, and tried desperately to get freed. But it was all in vain, it seemed. As Victor stepped out and headed toward his 'perfect dinosaurs', it seemed they had lost. The only reason they got away was because Moynihan had found out, somehow, that they were in distress and distracted Veloci by using the same technology she used before to disguise herself and telling Veloci that there were a lot more dinosaurs somewhere else.

The lie had worked, and Victor did in fact leave the 'perfect dinosaurs' where they were. He was confident that they would not escape, that they would still be there when he returned. When the coast was clear, Moynihan had rushed over from where she was hiding and freed her students from the net. She had scolded Rodger for falling for such an obvious trap, though she wasn't too harsh on him. However the others were quite upset with him, and didn't let him forget it. For a while after that, they would only go on a mission if they had received instructions directly from Moynihan.

"It was your fault we were in that mess!" Buzz said bitterly. "And if you were wrong about that mission, you could easily be wrong about this!"

"Buzz!" Rodger spoke up, getting annoyed with Buzz's accusations. "You and I both know I never intended for that to happen. And why are you even bringing this up? It happened a year ago! Let it go, will ya?" He could feel the anger inside growing, but he knew he had to suppress it or risk losing his temper with Buzz. And that was the last thing he wanted to happen. Before Buzz could think of a response, Rodger calmed himself down through long soft breaths. "Let's just..drop it okay?"

Buzz's glare softened, and he started to feel guilty. "I..I'm sorry Rodger. I don't know what came over me." Buzz was feeling so angry and upset about everything that was going on that he had just snapped. He needed an outlet, and he took it out on Rodger by bringing up the incident from a year ago. "I'm sorry." He apologized again.

Rodger smiled. "It's all right Buzz."

Wanting to change the subject, Buzz used his eyes to scan the area around the building, trying to find which place to start looking first. "So..which way should we go?"

Rodger looked around as well, and looked towards the building on the left side of Paramount Theatre. "Maybe we should start looking around that area for clues."

They still weren't sure just exactly what it is they were looking for. They weren't sure of what kind of clues they could possibly find around here that would lead them to Caruso. Perhaps they should have listened to Moynihan and stayed put until they could come up with a better plan. Why had they rushed to Boston, and especially during the night? Well perhaps night was a better option than broad daylight. They'd have the cover of darkness. But they still had no idea on where to go, and the only thing they could do was explore around. And who knows what they would find here?

They decided they would just have to look around until they found something that they think would be connected to Raptor Dyne or even to their missing friend. A footprint, a scale, anything that could help them find Caruso. But where would Raptor Dyne keep Caruso anyway? Where would Victor hide him?

Rodger took another look at Paramount Theatre and began to wonder if Victor would hide him in there. The doors would have been a problem, but if he had gotten Caruso there in human form... No. They already agreed that Caruso was most likely not in Paramount Theatre because someone would surely spotted him, with how many people visit a day. Victor would not choose such a popular location to hide Caruso. None of the buildings surrounding Paramount Theatre seemed to be empty nor abandoned. Some of the lights were still on, and there were still people coming in and out of the buildings.

Rodger stopped in his tracks, and looked up to the sky. "You know what Buzz?"

Buzz stopped walking. "What?"

Rodger gave a sigh. "I don't think Caruso is in this area...or anywhere in the city."

Buzz arched an eyebrow. "But..I thought you said..."

"Yes I know what I said." Rodger replied, rubbing his forehead with his hand. "But think about it. The buildings in the city are just too active. Victor wouldn't want to hide someone like Caruso near the city where someone was likely to find him..." He turned his head to look behind the Paramount Theatre, where Boston Common was. "He would choose a location that was away from the city, and most of the activity, a place where humans would be generally sparse and less likely to find anything he wanted to hide."

"Any idea on where such a place might be?" Buzz looked around the city, seeing building after building. "I don't see any place that looks like it's...well..sparsely populated."

"Maybe the Boston Common?" Rodger suggested. "It is a really big park, and there could be hidden buildings we don't know about somewhere in it."

"Hmm..I dunno..." Buzz thought, sounding a little skeptical.

"Think about it, Buzz. There's a lot of areas in the Boston Common that is shielded by trees. And within these wooded areas, someone could make a building, perhaps large enough to hold a Stegosaurus, and keep it hidden for a good amount of time." Rodger explained. "I don't think many people would go into these small forested areas, so it may be the perfect place for Victor to hide Caruso."

The more Buzz thought about it, the more sense it started to make. True, Boston Common is not exactly unpopulated, but who would want to go into those spooky mini-forests anyway? Well Buzz wouldn't that's for sure. They remind him too much of the camping trip. The trees did look densely populated enough in some areas to conceal a building of sorts.

Something else then started to nag at the back of the punk's mind, something he had forgotten about until now and his mind was trying to remember. There was something about Boston Common that was so familiar, something he heard about the place. He gripped his head, digging his fingernails into his scalp as he tried hard to remember. He gritted his teeth both from frustration and pain as he felt his nails scratch across the skin. Rodger saw this and placed his hand on Buzz's shoulder.

"Yo..what's wrong, Buzz?" Rodger asked, his eyes a little wide at Buzz's frustration.

"The Boston Common..there's something about it." Buzz replied, his eyes closed tightly as he tried to remember. "I heard something about it..something important."

"Well don't strain yourself, buddy." Rodger pulled one of Buzz's hands away from his head. He could have sworn he could see a little red on the tip of the green-haired boy's fingers. "It'll come back to you in time."

"Yeah..." Buzz relaxed, letting out a long exhale. "You're right."

"So shall we go to the Boston Common and look for clues there?" He asked Buzz as he made his way to the alley between Paramount Theatre and another large building standing next to it. The alley lead straight into the Boston Common. This wasn't the right way to go, and Rodger would not be surprised if it would be illegal going into the park this way. But right now he didn't care too much. It was dark anyway, so who was going to see them?

"Sure..." Buzz said slowly as he began to follow Rodger. He tried to keep his mind focused on the mission, but something continued to gnaw at the back of his mind. And he couldn't stop asking the same question in his mind over and over again: just what had he forgotten about the Boston Common...?

"Well do you see any building that you think Victor might use?" Max asked, standing next to Fiona. They were on the other side of the city, approximately parallel to where Rodger and Buzz were. They were standing near Green Dragon Tavern, a historical building just like Paramount Theatre was. They were looking out in the direction opposite of where the other two were looking. Their view was filled with rows and rows of small buildings. Behind them were the larger skyscrapers that big cities were known for. They were looking towards the outskirts of the city, however, because they believed that this would be a more likely place for Victor to hide Caruso. Not as many people around, so it would be less likely for suspicion to be aroused.

"Not really." Fiona responded, scanning the horizon. "None of these buildings look big enough." Most of the buildings before them were houses where people lived, obviously. And behind that there appeared to be a river of sorts cutting through the land. But they couldn't stop any buildings large enough to hide a Stegosaurus in.

"Hmm..." Max turned so that his left side was facing the city and his right side facing the suburban homes. He gazed over at the homes for a few seconds, and then looked over at the city. He wasn't sure now which place would be the best to look at. The city had buildings large enough for Victor to use. But most, if not all, were accessible to the public. Not a smart place to be to perform private experimentations. The suburban area, or at least areas just outside it, seemed to be a better place. They were quieter, and people were more sparse here. But he couldn't see any buildings that Victor could use for his plans with Irwin. "I..." He started to say, struggling to make a decision. But his mind just kept drawing a blank. "I'm not sure where to look..."

Fiona shared his frustration and let out a sigh of irritation. "That makes two of us." She gripped her head tightly, pulling at her hair. "Ooooh! This is so unfair! At this rate we'll never get there on time!" Fiona snapped, releasing some of the pent up anger she had inside.

"Fiona!" Max cried, gripping her arms and held her, trying to calm her down. "Settle down! Don't let your emotions gain control of you!" He said urgently, bringing his face close to hers to make her look at him in the eyes. Fiona struggled briefly in Max's grip, but she quickly settled down as he spoke to her softly, "Listen, Fiona. If we continue to believe we won't find Caruso in time, we won't. Try to be more optimist. Believe that we'll find him soon, and we will. And we will find him, that I can promise you."

Max didn't know if he was telling the truth or not, but it seemed to calm Fiona down. The young female teen settled down completely, and released the tension in her arms. She pulled a strand of hair from her face, and said in an apologetic tone of voice, "I'm sorry, Max. You're right. I shouldn't be so pessimistic."

"Come on..." Max spoke softly again. "Let's go for a ride." He made his way towards his Tyranno-Cycle. His and Fiona's motorbikes were sitting nearby.

"But..shouldn't we be looking for places where Caruso might be?" Fiona asked. "I mean this isn't the time for..."

"We are." Max said. He put on his helmet and pointed in the direction his bike was now facing. "We're going to ride down there and see if we can find anything."

"Oh..okay." Fiona responded as she got on her motorbike to follow Max.

The two set off in the direction Max had been pointing in. Buildings moved by on both their sides. Many houses went by, as well as many corporate buildings, and restaurants. The lights on many buildings were still on despite the time of night. As they road along the black-top road, they remained quiet. Their eyes were focused on the visual information being fed to them, and they tried to keep their ears on alert in case they hear something urgent, like danger approaching. It did seem unlikely that they would get in trouble out here, but while they were close to Victor's turf, they couldn't take the chances.

They quickly took notice on how quiet this part of the city was. It felt kind of odd to them. It wasn't this quiet in the other parts of the city. There were the sounds of people chatting, cars zooming by, and among other things. But this place was completely quiet. Something just didn't feel right about this place. As they continued to ride along, they began to feel an eerie sensation, as if they were being watched. But that was absurd. They had been in this area for a good amount of time already and they didn't have this sensation before nor did they actually see anybody. They quickly glanced behind them to be sure, and sure enough, they didn't see anyone.

But something about this part of town gave them the creeps. Something just felt so unnatural about this place. While the lights on the buildings remained on, it felt like this part of town was getting darker and darker the further they went through. And the atmosphere wasn't letting up with the dead silence that hung in the air around them. All they could here was the sound of their rubber tires scraping along the concrete road. Overhead, they could see dark clouds starting to roll in. It didn't look like it was going to storm though as these didn't look like rain clouds. They just looked rather dark, and spooky too.

Fiona clenched her teeth in uneasiness. She started to feel her heart beat a little faster. Her brain felt like it was working at a quicker pace. She quickly realized that this is how Caruso and Buzz must have felt while at the campsite. No wonder they had panicked so easily...

"Maybe we should go back..." Fiona spoke up, keeping her head low as she looked at their surroundings. "I don't like this place."

"Oh come on." Max said in a light-hearted tone, in an almost teasing sort of way. "Don't tell me you're scared."

But Max couldn't blame the girl. He was feeling uneasy about this place as well. It was just too quiet. There had to be something going on in this place that they didn't know about. Something terrible... Max could feel his body prepare to fight or flee, the prehistoric reaction that humans had since the Stone Age. His hands were becoming so sweaty it was becoming a challenge to keep his hands on the handle bars. Max wanted to get out of here as soon as possible.

"I know you're scared too!" Fiona yelled.

"I-I am not!" Max said, lying through his teeth. "But if it makes you feel better, let's drive our motorbikes faster so we'll be out of this part of town quicker."

Although a little irritated that Max apparently lied to her about not being scared, it didn't surprise her that much. He was the leader, and he probably felt like he shouldn't let anything bother him, and if something did, he thought he shouldn't show it and pretend that everything was all right. Just too bad he didn't follow this belief when he had lost his temper with Caruso. "That sounds like a smart idea." She said, liking the idea of leaving this foreboding place faster.

They tightened their grips on their handle bars and gave a twist, revving the engines in their bikes. Their bikes started to move at a faster rate now, going about twenty percent faster than they were before. They didn't want to waste too much energy as they had already used up a lot for the trip here. They hadn't traveled this far before on just their motorcycles. And they were starting to wonder if it was smarter to take the SUV instead. They could have packed some equipment from the trip in case they were faced with danger.

As they passed by another alleyway, movement suddenly flashed in the corner of Fiona's eyes. She quickly snapped her head in its direction, her eyes widened because the movement had startled her. The thing she saw was gone, but whatever it was, it looked a little big. It didn't feel like it was as big as her in dino mode, though, but still she didn't want to underestimate it. "Max, did you see that?"


	8. Broken

Max was confused. "What?" The jock asked as he kept his eyes on the road.

Fiona lowered her front body over her motorcycle, leaning forward as she did so. "I thought I saw something just run by us a few seconds ago." She slowly eyed the alleyways that were still ahead of them nervously.

"I didn't see anything." Max said somewhat suspiciously. "Are you sure you weren't just seeing things?"

"I'm telling you, I saw something...!" Fiona snapped. It wasn't Max that was making her feel on edge right now. It was the atmosphere of this place combined with the fact that she was certain that someone was now following them. And with the design of their bikes, it might not be too difficult.

Just as Max opened up his mouth to try to settle Fiona down, he too saw a figure flash by, but unlike Fiona his was directly in his field of vision. He stopped his bike, slamming on the brakes and smelling hot rubber as the tires skidded to a halt. Surprised, Fiona slammed on her brakes too, and her bike came to a halt next to Maxwell's motorbike. The figure Max had just seen was about human-sized it seemed. It looked black but that might have been because it was nighttime. It looked to be two-legged, and it just zipped by, from one side of the road to the other. It quickly disappeared in an alleyway.

"I guess you weren't kidding..." Max said as he eyed the alleyway. "I'm sorry for doubting you." He apologized.

"So you saw it too?" Fiona asked. Max gave a nod. "What do you suppose it is?"

"I don't know." Max said, his eyes narrowing. "But we're about to find out."

He and Fiona approached the alleyway. As they got close to it, they hopped off their bikes. They leaned them against the side of the building only inches away from where the space between the two buildings began. They took off their helmets and placed them on the small vehicles. They soon stood in front of the dark alleyway. Shadows obscured most of the space, save for a little light that was shining on the concrete. The familiar smell of trash cans mixed in the air, and so did another scent. It seemed familiar to the pair, but they couldn't quite put their fingers on it.

They hesitated for a second, and then stepped into the alleyway. They kept their guard up, glancing around for any sign of life and prepared themselves for an ambush. They felt vulnerable in this alleyway. It was a dead end. In front of them was a tall brick wall, and the alleyway wasn't too large. It looked to be a little too small for them to go dino. If they got into trouble here, they would not be able to completely transform, but they did have another defense: claws and teeth. They didn't have to fully transform to fight off an enemy.

As they ventured further into the small alleyway, the darkness soon made it hard for them to see. As their visibility vaporized, their other senses started to kick in. They kept their sense of hearing on full alert, listening for any sound like footprints or growling, anything. They looked around their surroundings again, even though they couldn't see anything in this dark place.

"I'm beginning to wonder if we were both seeing things..." Max finally said after they had looked around the alleyway for a few minutes without seeing anything. The thing that they believed they saw looked too large to hide in one of the trash cans, and the alleyway, although dark, didn't offer a lot of places to hide.

"Both of us?" Fiona found that hard to believe. "How could we both imagine the same thing?"

"Well if we did see something, it looks like it disappeared." Max said, placing his hand on his head and scratched his scalp. "Maybe it was scared of us."

They nearly jumped several feet when they heard a cold laughter behind them. Their bodies tensed up and their eyes widened in shock. They quickly realized the truth. They had been followed! They slowly turned around towards the entrance of the alleyway. The figure was back, although this time it looked more human than before. They couldn't tell who it was at first because of the darkness. But the figure wasn't very tall. It appeared to be about the same height as they were, if not a little shorter. The figure appeared to have long hair that was flowing slightly in the mild breeze that swept through the area.

Fiona and Max stood their ground, both adopting a fighting stance to battle whoever was threatening them. The figure hadn't made a move towards them, but their cackle had continued. The voice was definitely feminine. She was taunting them as she stood there in a relaxed composure. Her laughter was grating on Max and Fiona's nerves. After a few more seconds of silence from the two Dino Squad members, the figure finally decided to speak.

"My my, aren't you two up passed your bedtime?" The figure asked as she chuckled darkly again. "But then again, I suppose I should not blame you. After all, I know the reason you are here..and I am sure you know why I am here."

That voice! Max's eyes narrowed dangerously. He knew who this was. One of Victor's followers, one of the reasons they couldn't save Caruso. "You...!" Suddenly all sorts of bad memories of what happened not so long ago returned to his mind.

Fiona hadn't forgotten that voice either. She took a step forward, looking just as angry as Max did. "What do you want, Troodon?!"

Oscura took a couple steps forward. "What? I can't say hello to a couple of old friends?" She asked sarcastically.

"We are not friends!" Fiona snapped, giving Oscura a glare that could kill.

Oscura laughed as she began to circle the pair like a wolf pack circling a downed moose. She sneered as she saw that the two teenagers didn't take their eyes off of her. She continued to circle them, preventing them from running away from her and forcing them to face her. She suspected that they would rather ran than fight her because of their concern for Caruso. Their other two friends were somewhere in the city, she knew that. Michelle would take care of them.

"What are you doing here?" Max asked angrily. "Haven't you caused enough trouble?"

Oscura didn't stop circling, but she did look at Max with an almost horrified look on her face. "Me? Not cause enough trouble?" She stared at him for several seconds before breaking out into an almost maniacal laughter. "That's rich! I could never cause enough trouble!" She declared through laughs.

Max's eyes started to glow. "Get out of our way..or I'll...!"

Oscura chuckled. "Or you'll what? Lose your temper like you did with your precious friend?"

"How did you know what..." Max's eyes stopped glowing. He was shocked that Oscura would even know about that. How could she have found out? She wasn't even there when the argument took place!

"Oh I overheard your friend Caruso mentioning it." Oscura responded as she shrugged her shoulders. "He sounded upset."

Upon the mention of their missing friend, Fiona's eyes got a yellow glow to them like they would if she were to go dino. "Where are you hiding Caruso?!"

Oscura burst into laughter once more. Was this girl joking?! Was she really stupid enough to believe that she would give out such information so easily? Oscura grinned evilly. This girl was going to be fun to mess with. She could tell that already. "Why should I tell you anything?" She asked as she took a step forward.

Fiona growled, her Spinosaurus teeth starting to show up as she pulled her lips back in a snarl. The glow in her eyes intensified and Max was starting to become a little scared of her right now. "If you don't want to find out how easily my teeth can tear into your skin..." She said in a low, almost menacing voice.

Oscura's hand glowed and turned into the familiar pink-skinned hand of her Troodon form. She reached out with her dinosaur hand, and pressed a claw under Fiona's chin gently. "Such strong words coming from a weak girl like yourself." She said as she lightly scratched Fiona's chin in a mocking manner. "I suggest you be careful of who you try to threaten." She chuckled. Fiona jerked her head away and attempted to bite Oscura, but the raven-haired female was prepared. She reached out again with her dinosaur paw and gripped the red-haired teen's lower jaw tightly, her talons digging into her skin. As Fiona struggled in her vice grip, Oscura sneered. "I told you to be careful."

"Let her go!" Oscura heard Max say. Before she had time to react, she felt a fist against the side of her cheekbone. She squealed as she felt herself being knocked away, and ended up slamming her back against the wall of one of the buildings. Max turned his attention to Fiona. When he saw a little blood on her chin, he asked her gently, "Fiona...are you all right?"

"Yes." Fiona rubbed her chin lightly. Aside from a mild pain and a little blood, she felt fine. "I'm fine." Even though she was in human form, Oscura still appeared to be such a formidable opponent. She could only imagine who she would be in battle.

Max nodded before turning back to Oscura, who still had her back to the wall. "And as for you.." He said dangerously, stalking towards the girl like he was the predator and she was the prey. "Nobody threatens my friends, you hear me? Nobody..."

"Nobody except me." Oscura said, grinning broadly.

"Why you little...!" Max started to say before stopping himself.

"What? Big macho man afraid of a little bad word?" Oscura said in a teasing manner. She loved messing with people, especially when they seemed to show a sign of cowardice like this boy was displaying. Afraid of cursing? That's a good one!

Max felt his blood boil at that remark, but if he were to release his anger on Oscura now, they may never have a chance to find Caruso. Now that Oscura knows they are here, she could slip away and inform Veloci. They couldn't let her get away. She may be able to provide some useful information, but how to go about getting it from her? He and Fiona did easily outnumber Oscura, but the girl did have her Troodon spit. One bite and they were down. And Troodons were very agile, and could easily dodge most of their attacks. While their forms were larger, they were slower.

Then something else came to mind, something he had nearly forgotten about. Oscura was not alone. There was another person who had been with her the last time they had fought. Max hadn't seen Michelle anywhere, or any sign of her. He remained cautious when he took a step towards Oscura. He feared any second Michelle would turn up and turn the tides in this possible battle. But the combined tension of Oscura being here, Caruso still missing, and the possibility of an ambush from Michelle made it difficult for Max to suppress his anger for long.

"Oh shut up!" He snapped, trying his best to control his temper. "You're in no position to talk!"

Oscura eyed him casually, tilting her head as if she was confused by his statement. Is he really serious? She is in no position to talk? It took most of her will to keep herself from cracking up. The poor fool doesn't seem to acknowledge who's really in control here. Even as they stood there, staring at each other, she knew that the Dino Squad had already lost.

"You're such a fool..." She cooed mockingly as her hand shifted back to normal. She gave her hand a swift shake a couple times as she continued to speak. "You have no idea what kind of situation you and your other friends are currently in..."

Upon mentioning their other friends, Fiona took a step forward. Her eyes were narrowed, and she looked as if she was about to tear Oscura apart. She knew it probably wasn't the best strategy to take such an approach with this particular girl. After all, despite her small size, she could still beat them. Fiona had a hard time keeping her anger from rising however. She just couldn't forget what happened the last time they faced off with her and her deceptive partner, Michelle. Thoughts began to run through Fiona's mind. Why had Oscura brought up the others? If she did anything to hurt the others...!

"What about our other friends?" Fiona asked, clearly looking like she was struggling to restrain herself from lunging at Oscura. "What have you done to them?!"

Max joined in. "If you harmed them, I'll...!" He threatened, clenching his fists. He didn't know how long it would be before he just has to release his tension and use physical force on the girl. It may happen sooner than he thinks. He doubted Oscura would tell them what they needed to know right away, and she would most likely just continue teasing them. Why had he thought it was a good idea to get information from her anyway? There was little reason to think it was 'reliable'.

Oscura grinned menacingly as she pulled out what appeared to be a communication device. "Oh it's not me that they should worry about..." She said as she brought the device closer to her mouth. She pressed a button and gave a single command. "NOW!"

As soon as she uttered the command, she felt Max's hands grip her shirt and she was quickly lifted into the air. Max brought his face close to hers, looking directly into her eyes. "What have you done?!"

Oscura snarled as she looked at Max's hands gripping her. She couldn't believe the boy would be foolish enough to do that. How dare he! To show her displeasure, she transformed her head and neck into their Troodon forms. Glowing yellow eyes glaring deep into Max's own eyes, she opened her jaws, bacteria-infested saliva dripping along her fangs, and let out a rattlesnake-like sound. As Max's eyes widened, Oscura snapped her head forward, slamming her jaws shut just inches in front of his face. Startled, Max released her.

Oscura shifted back, and brushed off her shirt. "That is no way to treat a girl." She said as she straightened her top.

"You deserved it!" Fiona snapped, although there was a slight tinge of fear in her voice. She was scared for Max because he'd nearly been bitten. And she was worried about Buzz and Rodger. What did Oscura do?

Although clearly agitated by the presence of one of Victor's loyal followers, Max and Fiona had to be careful nonetheless. Their injuries still haven't healed all the way, and they could still feel pain. Fiona still had a cut on her nose where Oscura had bitten her and Max had a bite mark on his calf. The blood had already dried up and they weren't bleeding. Max was able to get a bandage wound around the leg to protect it from further infection while Fiona had a band aide. While it looked weird and she didn't like it, there was no other option.

"...what did I do?" Oscura taunted as she let her anger with Max fade away. "Why isn't it obvious...?" As she asked this, she smiled as Fiona and Max widened their eyes. They seemed to understand what she was talking about. The girl grinned. "Michelle will take care of them..." She said callously.

Michelle kept herself in the shadows as she watched the two boys nearby. She recognized them immediately. Rodger and Buzz, they were two members of the Dino Squad that she had met just the other day. She knew they would recognize her on the spot, in both human and dinosaur form. She grimaced a little. She felt a little uneasy about this whole plan. And she wondered, once again, what would happen to Caruso. She didn't know why she cared so much. Oscura was frustrated with her, and she understood that. But not even Michelle herself could explain this behavior.

Victor had called them over for a new mission. He had gotten word from Peter that the Dino Squad had found another tracking device, one that she had missed. She was scared Victor would do something, since he did not tolerate failure. But considering it was a good distance away from the lighthouse, he had let it slide. Since Victor knew the Dino Squad would surely come to Boston to find their friend, he had assigned them to intercept the group and catch them before they could succeed.

But when Michelle had asked Victor what he had planned for Caruso, he wouldn't say anything specific other than Caruso would submit to him. She grew a little suspicious on just what he was doing. And she was starting to have some more second thoughts. Was it really worth it? Was doing all this really going to do any good? She didn't want to defy Victor, as she knew what happened when people go against him. But she didn't know how much longer she could continue allowing whatever was happening to Caruso to occur. It was bothering her deeply that she wasn't sure what was going on. But when it comes to Victor, she could assume it was nothing good. Did Caruso really deserve this? He was simply a teenager and nothing more. He may have the form of a Stegosaurus, but by mind and heart, he was still just a teenager.

From her spot in the tree, she watched as Buzz and Rodger started to walk underneath it. They hadn't seen her, thank goodness. But when she receives the signal from Oscura, she would have to attack them. She felt reluctant to do this, but if she failed in her part, who knew what Victor would do to her? The least intimidating thing he could do was fire her. But he has heard threats of being devoured in the past. And several times, she has noticed men and women working for Victor just disappear without a trace. She'd never see them again, not even in another town. She gulped, suspecting she knew what happened to them.

She saw her communicator glow and held it up to her head. She was about to receive a transmission from Oscura. As the device was now next to her ear, she heard a voice utter the command she had been waiting to hear. As soon as Oscura had given the word, Michelle hesitated a second, tensing up as she watched the unsuspecting boys below. This was it. There was no turning back now. Preparing herself for a battle, she leaped out of the tree. She landed on her feet right in front of Buzz and Rodger.

The two teens were, at first, startled by this. They hadn't seen anyone up in the tree, and they didn't know they were being followed by anyone. About three seconds later, they recognized who this person was, and were immediately on their guard, preparing for a fight. The one least happy about this situation was Buzz. He still felt sick to his stomach that he had trusted Michelle, and had even defended her. And then she goes and does this to them! She was nothing more than a deceptive brat. The only thing positive about her that Buzz could think of was that she was at least less aggressive than Oscura.

"What are you doing here?!" Buzz asked, the first one of the three teens to speak up.

"What am I doing here?" Michelle asked innocently, doing her best to hide her fear. "Why..nothing, nothing at all."

"Don't lie to us!" Buzz shouted.

Rodger chimed in. "We know you are up to something!"

"You aren't going to fool us!" Buzz yelled.

Michelle chuckled at this. The boys were certainly smart, now weren't they? Smiling darkly, she did just as Oscura had with the other two teenagers. She began to circle Rodger and Buzz, almost like a vulture. As she smirked evilly at the boys, they returned the smile with a glare that looked fierce enough to kill. She was a little shaken, but remained calm. It was almost as if she wasn't even slightly fazed by that look.

Then Michelle said something that she immediately regretted. "I bet you two young boys are worried about your precious little friend, Caruso..." She stifled a gasp and put a hand over her mouth in shock. It was too late to take it back now. While Victor hadn't said anything about not doing this, Michelle knew it was a mistake to bring it up. As she looked to see the boys' reactions, she flinched a little, and took a step back. They had scowls plastered on their face, their teeth were gritted and showing, and their eyes were glowing yellow, a warning sign they were on the verge of transforming.

"What have you done to Caruso?!" Buzz demanded, raising his arm to punch Michelle.

Michelle took another step back, feeling her heart start to beat a little faster. "I did nothing to him!" She said quickly, trying desperately to shift the blame to keep herself from being accused. The only thing she had done to Caruso was plant the tracker onto his hand. She hadn't really hurt him. "I-It was Victor!" She said before she could stop. "He kept saying how he would force Caruso to surrender!" She immediately shut her mouth when she realized what she had just said. Oh why doesn't she just tell them everything already!

Realizing they could get a little information from this girl, Rodger took a step forward, trying to use his size to intimidate Michelle. "What else did he say...?" He asked dangerously, clearly indicating that if he felt she was lying, he was going to take action.

"...something about breaking his spirit..." Michelle replied nervously, looking up slightly as she was a tad shorter than Rodger.

For a brief second, the two boys tensed up. They recalled what Peter had told them earlier. The man had told them something about breaking Caruso's will if he continued to oppose Victor. But from what they were hearing now, it seemed Victor may have gone forth with that plan, to make the boy submit to his will. Both of them knew that Caruso did have a strong spirit that was hard to break. He would sometimes have brief anger problems like the time when he got upset with them because they disapproved of his bringing O'Ryan to the same place they were having a mission. But that only meant he had a strong mind, and was not the type to submit to another easily. This was definitely obvious on that mission.

Peter had mentioned Victor had a plan, a method that would either make Caruso surrender, or kill him. Just what did Victor have in mind? What could possibly make someone as hard-headed as Caruso surrender, or kill him in the process? Buzz and Rodger had all kind of disturbing thoughts running through their minds. They couldn't think of what could be worse: whatever Victor had in mind to break Caruso's will or the experiments he wanted to force the boy to endure.

But this girl could be their key in getting their friend back. If they used force, they could make her reveal his location, perhaps even make her lead them to him. And they couldn't shake off the feeling of anger and hatred they had for this girl. She helped lead Victor to the lighthouse. And she had helped capture Caruso in the first place. And to top it all off, she had nearly killed Rump and Moynihan, and destroyed all their monitoring equipment. She was the reason they are not able to get a lock on Caruso's location.

But of the two young teens, it was Buzz who was the most effected when the truth about Michelle was revealed. When he had first met her on that online computer game, he had thought he found someone whom he could try being friends with. When she first appeared in the classroom, he was the one most willing to help her fit in. He didn't suspect anything was wrong with her. She just seemed like everyone else. She had seemed like a friendly girl, someone whom he thought he could trust.

And when she pretended to be in danger, he and the others believed her, and had 'saved' her from the Troodon. They took her into the lighthouse, and had treated her wounds. She'd been bitten, and was getting sick from the poison in the saliva from the Troodon's bite. Even if her devious plan had not worked, she still was in real danger after Oscura had bitten her. She still owed them. They saved her life after all. Michelle hadn't shown any suspicious behaviors while in the lighthouse. She had made no attempt to wander around. She had stayed on the couch the entire time until she had to leave. Buzz had thought that, since Michelle didn't do anything they didn't want her to, she could be trusted. But he had made a terrible mistake.

It hurt him. It really hit him hard knowing that this girl, even though he didn't know her for long, had deceived them all. Everything she'd told them in the beginning was a lie. That whole thing with becoming a new classmate, that was probably just a charade to get into the class. Buzz narrowed his eyes as he continued thinking about Michelle. She probably just wanted to get into the class in order to get to know the Dino Squad more, perhaps learn their secrets. The more he thought about her, the angrier he became as he recalled all the times he had been betrayed by those he thought were friends. The very memories of these events made him start to shake visibly with anger.

Rodger had noticed this and turned away from Michelle to place his hand on Buzz's shoulder. He looked at his green-haired friend with a concerned look on his face. "Yo, are you all right?" He asked, nearly forgetting about the brunette standing nearby. "Why are you shaking?"

"I'd..." Buzz started to say before letting out a sigh. "I'd rather not talk about it right now." He said, briefly glancing a glare at Michelle, who took a step back.

Michelle gulped and felt her uneasiness grow and her courage diminish. She watched as the african-american tried his best to comfort his friend. She felt a tinge of jealousy. Why couldn't she and Oscura get along like that? Because Oscura was such a brat, that's why. Oh how Michelle was starting to hate her more and more everyday. And she was sure the feeling was mutual. She hoped the dominance fight would straighten her out, but since they were interrupted, Oscura declared there was no winner and continued to act as if she were her own boss. It sickened Michelle.

Michelle decided to take this moment between friends as a way for her to get out of here. But as she started to walk away, something was stopping her. A wave of fear came over her as she recalled what would happen to her if she disobeyed. Veloci had made it very clear to her he would hurt her if she did not carry out the task. He didn't sound threatening as he told her this. He probably believed she would listen to him anyway just as she always had in the past.

She groaned as she struggled to take another step, but her fears prevented her from getting any further. She felt a strange tingling in her fingers, a sick feeling in her stomach. It was like her fear had become her will, and was forcing her to carry out the mission. She took a glance behind her. The two boys still hadn't noticed she was starting to leave. She then turned and looked to where their bikes were, leaning against the side of a building. She'd seen these before, yesterday when they had taken her into the lighthouse to treat her wounds. They had taken her right into the lighthouse to treat her injuries because they thought she was genuinely in danger.

The young girl couldn't help but feel a little guilty as she remembered how she had tricked them like that. She had only been following orders though. She hadn't gone there on her own will. She hadn't destroyed the equipment because she wanted to. It was because she had to. They should understand that, right? They had a Velociraptor leading them. From what she had seen in her confrontation with the old woman, she quickly assumed that she was probably like Victor in some ways, perhaps just as aggressive, if not more. Surely the Dino Squad were subjected to the same kind of terror she herself has to go through everyday: the fear of getting eaten...

"Hey you!" Michelle winced as she heard Buzz's harsh voice calling from behind her. "Just where do you think you're going?!" She turned to see Buzz stalking towards her, his hands clenched into fists, and it looked as if he was shaking again. His brown eyes, narrowed dangerously, bore into her own as he stopped a couple feet away from her.

Michelle looked at Buzz fearfully before turning around to make a run for it, but she quickly found that she could not take that path. Rodger had gotten around the two and was now standing on the opposite of Michelle, attempting to box Michelle in and keep her from running away. Rodger folded up his arms tightly. "You are not leaving here." He told her. "If you want to escape, you will have to fight us first, but I'm warning you. It's not going to be much of a fight. Two big dinosaurs and one small dinosaur aren't exactly an even match."

Without thinking, a sly smile slowly appeared on Michelle's face. "You mean like the fight at the lighthouse?" She chuckled darkly. "Yeah you were so beating up Oscura and I!" She said in a taunting, sarcastic voice.

"Shut up!" Buzz snapped, his eyes glowing once more. But he knew that Michelle was right about this. They were sourly beaten by two human-sized dinosaurs back at the lighthouse. Five large dinosaurs, definitely bigger than these two dwarf dinosaurs, and they still didn't stand much of a chance against them. They were still beaten. The smaller forms were more agile than they were, and a lot quicker. Would he and Rodger really be able to defeat Michelle? She might be outnumbered, but only by one. Would they stand more of a chance if they had Fiona and Max with them?

Buzz wasn't the only one thinking about those two. Rodger suddenly realized that if Oscura and Michelle were partners, if Michelle was here, where was Oscura? There's only one logical place he could think of. The raven-haired teen must have gone after the other two to apprehend them! Rodger groaned. Splitting up wasn't such a great idea anymore. They have let themselves become more vulnerable by doing so. He began to worry about Max and Fiona. Were they all right? Has Oscura found them yet? And if she had, did she harm them?

"Oscura..." Rodger said. "She's after Max and Fiona, isn't she?"

Trying to sound brave once more, Michelle chortled and said in a mocking tone, "Oh you mean those two incompetent leaders?" She had heard that Max was the leader and Fiona was second-in-command, a co-leader sort-of-speak. "Oh yes she is. But I think she won't have much trouble. With the kind of luck those two idiots have, they won't last a few minutes against Oscura."

Michelle gagged a little as she felt someone yank her from behind. Her shirt collar pressed against her throat, making it a little difficult to breathe. She heard Buzz's harsh voice speak to her. "How dare you!" Buzz growled as he pulled on the collar tighter, attempting to strangle Michelle for what she said.

"Let...me...go...!" Michelle demanded as she yanked free of Buzz's grasp. She took in a few breaths and rubbed her throat a little to make sure there were no scratches there.

"What's the matter?" Buzz said somewhat mockingly. "I didn't know someone with a cold heart could feel anything!"

"Buzz..." Rodger said in a disapproving tone. He shared the same dislike for Michelle, but he knew that accusing her like this was not going to get them anywhere. And mocking her just as she mocked them, he didn't want to stoop to that level. "Don't. We aren't going to get anywhere with that kind of attitude."

Buzz growled softly at this statement. For a brief moment, he was wondering why Rodger was saying this. He felt that Rodger would have wanted to say something like that to Michelle, especially all that she's put them through. But slowly he realized the computer geek's point. To mock Michelle in the same manner as she had just mocked them would make them just as bad as she was. "I'm sorry." He said to Rodger after a few seconds of silence.

Rodger nodded before turning his attention on Michelle. He took in a deep breath and said, "I will ask this only once. Are you willing to just give us the information we need and be on your way unharmed... or do you want to fight?"

Michelle turned her head this way and that in a bird-like manner as she thought about the question. She would much rather just give the information if it meant getting away without having to fight. It was late and she was starting to get a little tired. She hadn't taken any kind of medicine to help her stay awake. She might not be able to perform at her best, and she suspected that these two boys would. They were going to be searching all night for their friend, so they probably did take sometime before they came here.

But she knew that if she returned to Oscura, or even Victor, without looking like she was in a fight, she would get into trouble. She knew that much. With Victor's sense of smell, he would be able to tell if she had made contact with this group or not. She couldn't lie about that. As much as she didn't want to right now, she would have to choose to fight. She had to follow Victor's orders. Was there really any other choice? Well there was, but she did not like the result of the other choices, to either betray him or to fail him. She didn't wish to have those claws and teeth in her...

"I choose to fight." She told them, closing her eyes and opening them up to reveal the reptilian eyes of a dinosaur. "I was sent here to capture you as Oscura was sent to capture your other two friends. We will take you to a confinement area where Victor will assess you after he is through with Caruso."

Giving an almost sadistic grin, a behavior that was so unlike himself, Buzz said, "Then you are going to be disappointed..." His eyes changed as well and he held up an arm, the hand now having hooked claws and green skin. "We won't let you win."

Both Rodger and Michelle seemed surprised at this new behavior coming from Buzz. Rodger hadn't seen that kind of smile from Buzz before, and it seemed a little scary for him to see the guy look like he's actually going to enjoy inflicting pain on someone, even if it was a follower of Victor. Michelle was a bit startled, but tried to look as unfazed as possible. She knew Buzz was trying to intimidate her. She wasn't going to let him or his friend scare her, although it was probably too late for this newfound bravery for she could still feel her heart racing.

Laughing with a somewhat evil disposition, attempting to slow down her heart rate and calm down her breathing, Michelle flexed her fingers in a dinosaur-like way and stared directly into Buzz's eyes. He was the one she was going to attack first, and she knew he knew that. "Well then..." She started to say. "I suggest you fight better than you did the last time, you flying bat."

A growl uttered from Buzz's voice as he responded threateningly, "You little..."

"Bring it." Michelle said as she watched Buzz seethe from the insult she'd just given him.

The alleyway had become a scene filled with blurs of reds, greens, and yellows. The air was mixed with the growls and hisses from three beasts that were clashing with each other. The sounds of slashes and claws clanging against each other also filled the night atmosphere. The trash cans had been knocked down, their contents strewn across the floor. At least one window was smashed, although no one had seemed to wake up to investigate. And the side of the walls were covered in long claw marks.

SSPLAAAARSHHH!

A cry of yelp followed as blood splattered against the wall of the alleyway. A large green Tyrannosaurus Rex, his mouth wide open and panting heavily, briefly lowered himself to the ground. Blood was trinkling down a wound on his thigh. Max didn't how how he let Oscura get close enough to do that. He should have been more focused. He mentally scolded himself as he lowered his head to lick the wound as best as he could.

'Max!' He looked up to see Fiona rushing towards him. 'Are you all right?' She lowered her head and sniffed at the wound he was cleaning with his tongue. The scent of blood mixed into her nostrils, and she jerked her head back. 'That's one nasty scratch.'

'No kidding...' Max grumbled before opening his mouth in horror. Fiona had turned her back onto Oscura. And now the Troodon was coming up behind her for a sneak attack! 'Fiona! Look out!' He shouted.

The golden Spinosaurus quickly turned her head to the side. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a flash of crimson. And then a second later, a sharp pain enveloped her, originating from the neck. Oscura had latched onto her and was now digging her claws into her vulnerable neck! Fiona lifted her head up and let out a roar of pain as she stumbled across the floor, trying her best to knock the Troodon off of her. But there was so little room in this alleyway. Why had she and Max taken the risk of going dino here? They were lucky they didn't squash each other.

It was clear Oscura had the advantage. She was small enough to still be able to maneuver around even with two large dinosaurs taking up almost all the space in the alleyway. And she was so agile they couldn't get a claw or tooth on her, and yet she could easily inflict wounds on them. She has already cut up Max pretty well. In addition to the injury on his thigh, he had a few more on his back and side. Fiona had a few cuts on her face, forearms, and tail.

'Let go of me, you urchin!' Fiona shouted angrily, snapping towards Oscura. But the little dinosaur was just out of her ranch. All her jaws were snapping on was air, no matter how many times she tried.

Oscura chuckled at Fiona's pathetic attempt to get her off of her neck. 'Oh poor Fiona. What's the matter? You don't like a friendly hug?' She asked mockingly.

Fiona hissed. 'Wait until I get my jaws on you...'

'Oh I'd like to see you try...' Oscura replied sinisterly, opening her jaws to deliver a bite. '..before I deliver the bite, and then it'll be all over.' She saw Fiona's eyes widen and couldn't help but chuckle to herself. 'I went easy on you and your friends before. I only gave a mild dose that made you sick. But I can easily give you more, with deadlier consequences...'

'No!' Max rose up from the ground. 'Don't you dare do it, Troodon! If you do, I'll...' His voice trailed off as he struggled to find some sort of threat to give to the Troodon. But she seemed so unfazed by anything they tell her. He doubt he could find something to scare her with. She was probably not even afraid of threats of death.

'Or you'll what?' Oscura asked tauntingly. She lowered her head closer, her teeth just barely touching Fiona's dinosaur skin. Fiona had frozen in place, afraid that if she tried anything now, she could slip and feel the fangs sink into her body, delivering the cocktail of bacteria. 'Now doesn't this remind you of something, hmm?' She asked in a scary tone of voice, even for her. It would have scared her too if she even cared that much.

'What are you talking about?' Max asked.

Oscura let out a hissing laugh. 'You mean you don't remember? How could you have forgotten?'

Max narrowed his eyes angrily. 'If you're going to pull a mind game...!'

'Your friend here is helpless to defend herself from my bite.' Oscura explained, setting her jaws on Fiona's neck once more. 'And you are powerless to stop it. Isn't this the same situation that happened when we took your precious friend?' As Max let out a gasp, Oscura slightly tightened her grip on Fiona's neck. 'You were right there, and you could not save him. You let him down.'

'I...' Max attempted to defend himself, but only drew a blank. A sickening feeling overcame him as he realized that Oscura was correct. He had let Caruso down. He could have saved him, but he let himself be overtaken by the poison and collapsed, doing nothing more but watching the truck drive away and disappear from sight.

'Don't listen to her!' Max heard Fiona say. 'She's just trying to psyche you out! Don't let it get to you!'

'Quiet you!' Oscura hissed, pressing a little harder, the teeth nearly breaking the skin.

'Fiona!' Max moved his head a bit closer, but froze in place as he saw Oscura threatening to bite harder. He was close enough to attack, and yet he was being held back. Why? He had no restraints on. There was no rope tying him to a building of some kind. He probably could move fast enough to grab Oscura. Even if he didn't move quick enough, if he got his jaws on her, it was all over. So why was he hesitating?

'So..it looks like we understand each other.' Oscura slowly loosened her grip on Fiona's neck. But she still had her jaws set on the skin, making it very clear she wouldn't be afraid to pull that stunt again. And she wasn't through having her little fun. 'Perhaps I should just kill her now...'

'Why?!' Fiona's jaws gaped open in shock. She did not know why she asked that one word question. She already knew what the answer was going to be.

'Why...?' Oscura's eyes turned towards her. The golden glow nearly made the Spinosaurus flinch. 'Because it's fun.' She grinned. 'Your death scream will be music to my ears.'

Max roared in anger. He was getting tired of this darn Troodon! He could feel his blood become hot with hatred, feeling as though his skin were burning. His entire body was shaking with rage. Oscura had long since crossed the line. She had threatened Fiona and had tried to psyche him out by making him feel guilty all over again about Caruso's capture. She had poisoned his team mates, and probably taunted Caruso while he was being taken away. She was nothing but a monster who enjoyed seeing pain and suffering from others. How could anyone believe it is fun to take the life of another? Only those with a cold heart would think that.

But as much as Max wanted to attack Oscura, he just couldn't. Fear was holding him back, making him hesitate. That is what he started to believe. He feared that if he missed, he could hit Fiona instead. She was very close, Oscura was within range, but he could still easily miss. Oscura was not a very large dinosaur. He would have to be very precise with his bite, or he risked hurting Fiona. Max groaned in frustration. What should he do...?

Suddenly, without warning, a loud shriek emitted from Oscura's throat. A second later, she was tossed to the ground, stumbling as she rolled across the floor. Fiona and Max were completely taken off by this. Just what had happened? They hadn't seen anyone else show up. They couldn't see any of the others around them. And it wouldn't have made much sense, considering the fact that they took up most of the room in the alleyway. There did not appear to be enough room for anyone else to show up. And yet that was exactly what happened. How else could they explain the sudden attack that knocked the red Troodon off of Fiona?

A deep cut snaked across Oscura's back, not deep enough to kill but allowed the blood to flow freely. She struggled to her feet, moaning briefly in pain and from disorientation. Just who attacked her? She took a good look at the wound on her back, near where her tail began. This wound did not seem like it could have been inflicted by a Tyrannosaurus Rex or Spinosaurus. Her eyes widened a little. This kind of wound could only have been inflicted by Victor, or...

'Moynihan?!' Max and Fiona said in unison, their voice clearly filled with shock. Standing there, across from where Oscura was, was Moynihan. She was in her Velociraptor form, her yellow eyes glaring angrily at the Troodon.

'You...' Oscura seethed. 'How dare you...' Drool dripped from the sides of her jaws in a beast-like manner.

'You brought this on yourself.' Moynihan replied, raising up her claws threateningly. It had been a long time since she last fought in Velociraptor form. She hoped that she hadn't gotten too rusty on her fighting skills. Max and Fiona detransformed back into their human forms to give their mentor some fighting room. They also backed away so they wouldn't be caught in the middle of the battle.

'You are going to try to face me alone?' Oscura sneered, raising her head up with self confidence. 'You're a bigger fool than I thought. An old woman who is clearly passed her fighting prime facing a younger, more skilled fighter all by herself.' While Moynihan felt a little insulted that Oscura judged her fighting skills so negatively even after she had managed to land a serious wound on her back, she couldn't help but give a raptor-like smile to the Troodon. Oscura was confused by this grin. 'What are you smiling about?'

Moynihan chuckled in a dinosaurian manner. 'You. Did you really think I came here all by myself?'

'What are you...' Oscura suddenly screamed as she felt something clamp onto her tail. She turned her head to see something white gripping on her tail, and growled as she recognized what it was. 'You stupid mutant dog!' She cried out. 'Let me go!' Michelle had told her about Rump, how the dog tried to attack her but she managed to wound him. At first Oscura laughed at the idea of a dog turning into some mutant half dinosaur half dog creature, and found it even funnier when Michelle offered her a detailed description. But now, with Rump biting her with those powerful jaws, she is finding the mutant to be far less funny.

"Rump?!" Fiona gasped. What was the dog doing here? He still hadn't fully recovered from Michelle's assault. She could still see the bandages that were wrapped around him. And yet, despite the pain he must be in, he was attacking Oscura without hesitation. It was as if the pain he was feeling didn't mean anything to him anymore.

"Why is Rump here?" Max asked, just as confused as Fiona.

'What?' Moynihan asked, briefly glancing over her shoulder to look at the two teens. 'You didn't expect me to come alone, did you?' She sounded a bit surprised, as if she expected them to know she would not come here alone. But then again, they didn't know she was coming at all.

"Well..." Max started, but was interrupted by a high pitched yelp.

ARRROOOOO!

'RUMP!' Moynihan cried as she watched the dog slamming into the ground after getting hit by Oscura's tail. Rump managed to struggle to his feet. He wobbled a bit as he took a couple steps forward, but other than a bit of redness appearing where he was struck, he didn't appear to have any new injuries on him.

'You stupid mutt..' Oscura snarled as she glared at the dog mutant. She glanced back at her tail, now having some blood covering it, and said, 'I should skin you alive for that!'

'You will do no such thing!' Moynihan got into a fighting position, rosing her tail straight in the air and lowering herself, jaws wide open, claws held forward menacingly. She was challenging Oscura to a one-on-one fight.

'Hahahaha! You really think you can take me on, you old woman?' Oscura sneered confidently. She was having trouble comprehending what would possess an elder to take on a youth. 'You don't stand a chance.'

Moynihan growled softly. 'Don't act so smart, you idiot!' Hearing Moynihan say this surprised both Max and Fiona. Rump sensed what was about to happen and limped towards Fiona, detransformed, who knelt down and picked him up. 'Take a good look at your opponent before talking like such a fool!' To emphasize her words, she slowly rose straight up, her tail still raised, her jaws still open, and she let out a soft, warning growl.

'I'm not the fool.' Oscura simply said, unaffected by Moynihan's threatening growl. 'You are, you thick-headed, pathetic excuse for a Velociraptor!' She shouted at the green raptor, not once hesitating as she continued to insult her. 'I could easily defeat you, you old hag! So why don't you do yourself a favor and just give up before we even begin? Trust me, it'll be a lot less painful.'

Moynihan's sharp teeth glinted in the little light available as she seethed a bit at the insult. Usually she wouldn't let such insults get to her. But the way Oscura was saying them was reminding her all too well of Victor Veloci, the way he had started to treat her ever since she expressed doubts of reclaiming the planet for the dinosaurs. She did understand, somewhat, why he had gotten upset. She had usually been there for him to support him and to help him. It probably helped him feel better knowing that there was another one just like him who had shared his dream. It must have hurt him when she went against him, and abandoned him. She had considered changing her mind, but when Veloci attacked her for the first time...well that hurt her just as much.

Why had he attacked her with such ferocity not long after she decided to quit? She hadn't even planned on trying to stop him in the beginning. She didn't think she could anyway. She had never threatened him when she first left. She just simply couldn't take it anymore. All these experimentations, they were wearing her down. There had been too many broken promises and too many let downs. But when Victor attacked her in an attempt to force her to rejoin him, she had no choice but to defend herself. Victor was not always like this. She secretly wished for the Victor she once knew to return, but she believed that had long since passed.

She'd given him chance after chance after chance, but he never changed. She wasn't sure if that was because he didn't understand, or if he just simply didn't want to change back to how he was before. Victor didn't always hate the humans. There was a time when he, like her, was curious about them and wanted to learn more. What she found funny, in a bitter way, is that it was actually the result of one incident that led Victor to his long-standing hatred of the primates. And she had never told the Dino Squad.

But Moynihan knew that this was not the time or place to be thinking such thoughts, especially when there was an enemy standing before her, ready to strike. She mentally shook her head to get those thoughts out of her mind and said, 'I do not need to take orders from you.'

'Such a lame response.' Oscura sneered, chuckling to herself. 'I would have expected more from the trainer of the Dino Squad. But then, why was I expecting that from such a weak person like yourself?'

"Why you..." Max started, but was held back by Fiona. "Fiona, let go!"

"No!" Fiona hissed. "Professor Moynihan can take care of herself! We have to find the others!"

"Fiona..." Max began.

Fiona was not in the mood to argue. "Max, what if Michelle gets the others?"

Max still was not agreeing to going along with Fiona's request of leaving Moynihan to find Buzz and Rodger. It's not that he didn't care about their safety. It's just that..Oscura had a more dangerous bite than Michelle did. What if something happened to Moynihan? "I'm sorry, Fiona, but I still don't think we should just leave Moynihan."

This hadn't gone unnoticed by the opposing villainess. Raising her long, slender neck upwards a bit and opening up her mouth slightly to partially expose her teeth, Oscura was becoming even more amused by these two teenagers. Their loyalty to their loved ones, it amused Oscura, as she saw this as a sign of weakness. And it seems she was right, with the way these two were bickering a bit on who they should help first. 'You Dino Squad idiots never cease to amaze me.' She jeered.

"You stay out of this!" Fiona barked. "This doesn't concern you!"

Giving a laugh that sounded more like a rattlesnake hiss than an actual laugh, Oscura turned her head to the side. She gazed at the feisty tomboy at a sideways glance. 'On the contrary, my dear,' She said evilly. 'I believe it does. You want to find your other friends? You'd have to get through me first.' She held out her red-skinned arms, the hooked claws on both hands facing towards each other.

"We're not afraid of you!" Max declared. He then felt someone pulling him back. Even though he couldn't see her face, he knew it was Fiona. "Fiona, stop!"

"But Max..." Fiona started to say. Before either of them could continue, they noticed Moynihan shifting her raptor head towards them, her yellow eyes gleaming at them. It reminded them so much of Victor they almost forgot that Joanne was on their side. Instinctively, they both took a step back.

'Fiona is right.' Moynihan finally said. She tried her best not to focus too much on the children, unless she wants to let her guard down and risk getting attacked by Oscura. Before Max could try to argue with her, the green Velociraptor made her point clear. 'I can handle this Troodon on my own. Two small dinosaurs would be harder to notice.'

"I..." But Max couldn't think of anything to say. Moynihan was right. He was surprised that no one had heard them fighting. He was a T-Rex and she was a Spinosaurus. They aren't exactly hard to miss, given their huge size. "I understand."

'You and Fiona must go find the others and make sure they are all right.' Moynihan said as she turned her head to face Oscura. 'I will join up with you after I take care of this Troodon.'

"Come on." Fiona said after Moynihan had given the order. She started to race towards her Spino-Cycle. "Let's go!" She quickly hopped on, and waited for Max. She didn't want to take off and having him not knowing where she was. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Rump changing back into his mutant form. He jumped onto her lap and held onto her with his strong mutant paws.

"Coming!" Max raced towards his Tyranno-Cycle, and was about to hop on. But he hesitated briefly. He turned his head towards Moynihan, who was now facing off with the red Troodon. "Good luck." He whispered before getting on his bike. He nodded to Fiona, and they soon took off to the other side of town, leaving Moynihan alone with Oscura.

When they were alone, the two dinosaurs began to circle around each other in the alleyway, eyes locked onto one another. Both were calculating the strength of their opposition, and figuring out, mentally, what they should do to defeat the other. Neither made a move, however, expecting the other one to do so. They both remained on alert, awaiting for the first strike to be executed. The dark clouds in the sky shielded the moon, reducing the amount of light available in the alleyway. Moynihan narrowed her eyes, realizing she was at a slight disadvantage. She hadn't used her raptor night vision in years, and she was having some problems adjusting her eyes to the darkness.

Oscura, on the other hand, was unaffected. The Troodons were a race of mostly nocturnal dinosaurs with large eyes well designed for lack of light. She noticed Moynihan's temporary vulnerability, and considered attacking her. But she reconsidered, and decided not to. She had her reasons. She wanted to fight Joanne first. She wanted to defeat her, to crush her hopes and her spirit. Oscura felt it would be a lot more fun this way. She could already envision Moynihan's dying scream and her cold laughter. It would be music to her ears.

'You are quite brave, I'll give you that.' Oscura said as she scratched the ground with her talons as if she were about to charge. 'And for the record, my name isn't Troodon. It's Oscura.'

'I never asked you.' Moynihan hissed. 'So are you just going to stand there all day or are we going to fight? Or are you too afraid?'

'Ooo.. touchy touchy. I will give you this warning only once. You better watch what you say, old woman.' Oscura chuckled. 'You just might get hurt.'

Moynihan bared her teeth. 'Thanks for the warning.' She said in a sarcastic tone. 'But I can take care of myself, as Fiona said.' She knew that Oscura was probably going to try to psyche her out somehow.

'Oh so that's what her name is.' Oscura cooed as she smiled darkly with her dinosaurian jaws and lips. 'I admit she is a cute kid. And rather feisty and brave too.' She scratched her jaws as she said this. She was deliberately trying to make Moynihan angry to hinder her thinking skills during the fight. She had a feeling that the old woman would not appreciate having her students taunted and threatened. 'But she is still a rather weak individual. She could not even break free of my grasp. Her grabbing me back at the lighthouse was a simple fluke.' She scoffed. 'I have fun toying with people like her. Their resistance is amusing, and it's entertaining to make them suffer.' Oscura stopped briefly to glance at Moynihan more carefully. She felt a little disappointed that Moynihan was not reacting to what she was saying, and hissed softly to express her frustration.

'What's the matter?' Moynihan said, feeling a sense of satisfaction that she wasn't doing what Oscura was hoping she would do. Oh Oscura's words had angered her, but Moynihan knew that if she reacted, that would be just what Oscura was waiting for. She could see through Oscura's clever plan. And she wasn't going to fall for it. 'You can't win a fight without putting your opponents at a disadvantage? Are you that pathetic, Oscura?'

The Troodon snapped her head up and let out a loud hiss as her dinosaur lips curled back into a snarl. She didn't give an answer. Instead, she suddenly bolted forward, readying herself to lung at the green raptor and attack her. She had given Moynihan no warning, no sign that she was on the verge of attacking. She just bolted, and within seconds she was in range. When she was, she jumped and opened up her jaws to try to bite her. While she had a short amount of time to react. Joanne quickly jolted out of the way, allowing Oscura to bite the air.

As the Troodon slammed into the ground, Joanne quickly turned around and made her move. She lunged towards the smaller dinosaur and landed on her back before Oscura could get back up off the ground. Moynihan held Oscura on the ground with one strong leg, the foot pressed on the Troodon's long slender neck just behind the head. Oscura started to struggle frantically, but was having a difficult time swiping at Ms. Moynihan because of the way she was positioned on the ground and where Moynihan was standing. Oscura couldn't bite her either because she was not able to turn her head with the raptor's foot on her.

'How are you able to fight?' Oscura said as she finally started to settle down, realizing she wouldn't be able to free herself just yet. She decided she could not afford wasting too much energy. 'I thought you were hurt.'

Moynihan narrowed her yellow eyes. She knew someone was going to ask her about that, but she thought it would be one of her own students. She did not expect someone like Oscura to question her about it. 'That is none of your business, Troodon.' She hissed, pressing her foot slightly harder. 'Now are you going to tell me where Caruso is, or am I going to have to force the information from you?'

Oscura's eyes widened slightly, but not at Moynihan's foot applying more pressure. From what Victor had told her about Moynihan, the old woman was a coward, and nothing more. She wouldn't have the guts to threaten anyone. But now, she had just said something that sounded very close to an actual threat. Moynihan seems willing to actually hurt her to get information. This doesn't sound like the Moynihan she had been told about. Certainly not the Moynihan Victor knew either. What has gotten in this old woman?

'I never thought a coward like you would threaten to hurt anyone.' Oscura said.

'I never said I was going to hurt you.' Moynihan said, smiling although Oscura could tell it was not a genuinely happy smile. 'I have another way of getting information from you.' Moynihan was not really surprised that Oscura thought she was going to hurt her for information. She probably got that idea from Victor. No doubt he would do such a thing. She didn't put it past him. But Moynihan had another idea of how to get information from this feisty Troodon. And she wouldn't have to harm a scale on Oscura's body.

'And that is...?' Oscura inquired. But she got no reply from Moynihan, just an almost creepy smile.

"Rodger and Buzz have to be around here somewhere!" Fiona shouted, trying her bed to hold Rump with one arm and steer with the other. They were on the same road that Paramount Theatre was on, but so far they had seen no signs of Buzz or Rodger anywhere. She and Max knew that the two were assigned to look for clues around this spot, so they probably went to look somewhere else. But where exactly should they start looking? And they weren't gone that long, where they? Unless the two went dino, they couldn't have gotten that far.

"Keep looking!" Max responded, gripping the handles on his bike tightly as he looked around the block nervously. If Buzz and Rodger had gone dino out in the open, they would have a higher chance of getting spotted then he and Fiona did back in the alleyway. He was expecting a Pteranodon or a Styracosaurus to appear out of nowhere any second.

They continued their search, staying on the sidewalk along the same road. Eventually they could see the huge Paramount Theatre's sign. As it came closer to their view, not surprisingly, they couldn't see Buzz or Rodger anywhere. Now that they were at the location, they could start their search on foot. In case Michelle was anywhere nearby, they would be better off without the bikes. They'd make less noise that way. They hopped off their bikes and leaned them against a building close to the Paramount Theatre. As they did so, they quickly spotted two other strange-looking bikes. Upon inspecting them, they discovered they were Rodger and Buzz's motorcycles.

"Their motorcycles." Max said softly, turning his head to Fiona. "They must be close by."

"Yes." Fiona said, nodding her head. "But where?"

As if to answer their question, there was a loud crashing sound followed by a bellow of pain. Fiona and Max quickly turned in the direction of the sound and noticed smoke pillowing out from another alleyway, slightly larger than the one they were in. They nodded to each other and raced towards the space between the two large buildings. When they came to it, it became obvious, very fast, that the smoke was actually coming from behind the building. They raced through the thick smoke, covering their mouths and coughing as they attempted to wave the smoke away and get fresh air.

Once they reached the other side, they quickly noticed what caused the dusty smoke to begin with. On the back of Paramount Theatre, there was a large dent in it, the brick wall all around cracking and breaking. Inside the partial hole in the thick wall was a large green body, Buzz in dino mode. He had bite marks in his leg, and his head looked as though it were embedded in the dent in the building. Standing in front of him was Michelle in dino mode. Her mouth was lined with a little bit of blood, and she was making her way towards Buzz.

Not too far away, there was Rodger. He was laying down on his side. There appeared to be some kind of large beam laying on him, heavy enough to hold him down, but not kill him. He had a few cuts on his face and along his back, probably where Michelle attacked him, just as Victor had. The Styracosaurus saw Fiona and Max arrive on the scene and tried to get up. He let out a moan of pain as his feet slipped from underneath him and he hit the ground with a thud.

Max and Fiona stood there, horrified. Michelle hadn't spotted them yet, but they knew that wouldn't last much longer. They stood there, frozen, staring at the scene before them. How could Michelle so easily take down both Rodger and Buzz in dino mode? Well sure, Michelle was also in dino mode. But she wasn't very big, smaller than Moynihan and Victor were in dino mode. And she lacked the venomous bite that Oscura had. Rodger and Buzz should have had the advantage. Apprehending Michelle shouldn't have been too difficult. And yet, there they were, helpless as Michelle made her advancements. Max and Fiona ran in different directions. Max went towards Rodger while Fiona went towards Michelle.

"Rodger!" Max shouted as he transformed into his Tyrannosaurus Rex form. He stomped towards his injured comrade and lowered his head down. He gripped the beam with his strong jaws and lifted it up into the air. With a single thrust, he tossed it towards nearby foliage, followed by a loud crashing sound. He winced briefly, and then turned his head towards Rodger. He lowered his head once again. 'Rodger, are you all right?'

'I'll be..fine..' Rodger managed to say through his pain. Although shaky and a little weak, he managed to get to his feet since he no longer head the heavy beam pushing him down.

'How could someone that small beat you and Buzz?' Max said, sounding confused. 'You and him are bigger than she is.'

'She..she was too fast for us.' Rodger explained. 'She wore us out...'

"Leave him alone!" Fiona shouted to Michelle, getting her attention as she ran towards her.

The Guanlong Wucaii stopped in her tracks, only a few feet away from Buzz, and turned her head towards Fiona. The tomboy had stopped running, and stood about a yard or so away from Michelle. The black dinosaur remained unfazed as the girl stared at her hatefully. Michelle turned her entire body in the direction where Fiona was standing. She found it a little amusing that she was going to attempt to defend her friend. What chance would she have anyway? If these two couldn't defeat her, what made her think she could?

But perhaps she should just humor the girl, let her try to fight her. Why not? It wouldn't hurt anything, well except maybe her or Fiona. It wouldn't necessarily be a waste of time. And since she's fighting the Dino Squad, she couldn't get in trouble with Victor, even if she failed in the mission, now could she? Of course she could easily be wrong. She felt a tinge of fear as she quickly thought of what the consequences would be if she were wrong. She shook her head mentally. She couldn't think those things at this moment. If she spaced out too long, Fiona could use that to her advantage and attack her without warning.

Clenching a fist, Fiona pointed to where Buzz was laying. He was unconscious, his eyes closed and mouth open with his tongue hanging out. "What did you do to him?!" Fiona demanded.

Michelle tilted her head in a bird-like manner as she thought about an answer to give the tomboy. She casted a glance at Buzz before she turned her head towards the girl. She opened her mouth in a dinosaurian smile. 'Oh why nothing...' She said slyly. '...that he didn't deserve.'

"What right did you have to do that to him?!" Fiona shouted, her eyes glowing yellow.

Unlike Oscura, Michelle did look genuinely afraid upon seeing the eye glow. She took a step back and did not give a smart retort like Oscura would have. She was growing more and more nervous the longer that Fiona and Max were there. It was tough enough for her to handle these two idiots. It would be nearly impossible for her to handle four dinosaurs, even if two of them were already injured. Michelle couldn't come up with a response for Fiona's question. She just stared at the girl in the eyes, hesitating, unmoving. Michelle was finally jolted into moving when she heard a roar from behind her. She could see the looming form of the Tyrannosaurus Rex, the leader of this group, that she knew. Next to him was the Styracosaurus. He still limped, but judging from how he was lowering his horns at her, he seemed more than ready to charge her.

Michelle then heard a squawking sound, and whirled her head around to find that Buzz had not only woken up, but was now standing, although with some difficulty with his injuries. He opened up his wing span as wide as he could and puffed up his chest to make himself look more intimidating. His long beak was open, exposing his sharp teeth. Michelle took a step back, and almost immediately she heard the deafening roar of the Tyrannosaurus Rex. Gulping silently, she turned yet again and quickly found she was surrounded by four larger dinosaurs. She scanned the area quickly, looking at each of her opponents. She growled softly. She couldn't fight all four of them by herself. She needed Oscura.

A thought crossed her mind. Just where was that Troodon? She was supposed to take care of Max and Fiona, yet they are here and she is not. What had happened back there? What was her partner up to? She glared softly at the T-Rex and Spinosaurus. There was only one thing that could have happened. Oscura must have been defeated, or perhaps even preoccupied with something else. Maybe the Dino Squad had brought back up. If that is the case, then capturing them was going to be harder than she had anticipated. Michelle felt a strange and uncomfortable feeling overwhelm her as she quickly realized she was subdued. She could not fight back, not against all these dinosaurs. She had no choice but to run.

Run...that was one choice she was not overly fond of. Oscura also hated running, but that was because she'd rather have fun with her opponents. Michelle hated to run because she believed it made her look like a coward. But even Victor had once said that sometimes running is the only option. Michelle took another step back, followed by a challenging bellow emitted from Rodger. She jumped a bit, startled, and stared in his direction, and then shifted her gaze to Max and Fiona, and then Buzz. Each one took a step closer to her, attempting to trap her in a circle. If Michelle were to escape, she'd have to run very soon.

Her thoughts returned to Caruso back at the hideout. She started to wonder how he was doing and what Victor was doing with him. At first, she didn't know why she was concerned about him. To her, all he was to her was the enemy. He was part of the Dino Squad and a threat to Victor's plan. If she helped him, she would be regarded as a traitor and perhaps Victor would kill her as the ultimate punishment. Victor was never tolerant of traitors as she learned the hard way in the past.

And Caruso did deserve this, did he not? His massive ego reminded herself, as well as Victor and Oscura, all too well of the ego that the human race had displayed over the past few hundreds of years. Caruso had believed he could use his dinosaur form for fame, from what she was told from when she was guarding Caruso on the way to Raptor Dyne. He didn't seem to know his own limitations and probably had endangered his group so many times. Perhaps taking him away was doing them a huge favor. They would be a lot safer without him.

And yet..why are they here? If they truly were better off without Caruso, why were they trying so hard to save him? Because they were friends, that's why, she thought. His friends must care about him a lot to risk everything to try to save him from her boss's clutches. Even if she was able to stop them this time, they would keep trying until either they died, succeeded, or they found out Caruso died.

Upon thinking of death, Michelle suddenly had a pang of guilt. Could she really go through with it? Could she really just let Caruso die? Victor had never mentioned anything about killing, but she wouldn't put it past him. And whatever method he was using to try to break Caruso..it would have to be something terrible, almost inhumane. Could she really just stand by and allow that to happen? No! She shouldn't think that like! Caruso was none of her concern! She shouldn't care at all what happens to him. Her main priority was to help capture the remainder of his stupid friends. They had it coming! They asked for it!

But she still couldn't help but feel guilty. Perhaps Oscura was right. Perhaps she had gotten attached to Caruso. It was the only explanation. She kept on telling herself otherwise, kept on emphasizing her hatred for him. But deep down, she did truly care about him and his well-being. She couldn't lie to herself any longer. She couldn't stand doing this anymore. She should never have gone along with doing all this. She should have refused to put the tracker on the poor kid. But because of her, now he's in her boss's hands and who knows what he was doing to him.

Was a paycheck really worth all this...?

Getting tired of the silence, Fiona spoke up. 'Well? Aren't you going to answer me?' Her mouth opened up to reveal her line of sharp teeth. 'Or are you thinking of another plan?'

'Let's just get her!' Buzz said, hissing loudly through his long beak. He was eager to get back at Michelle for slamming him into the wall like that. And he felt a tinge of satisfaction knowing that now she was outnumbered and couldn't fight back. Now she knows what it feels like to be helpless.

'No!' Max snorted, giving Buzz a T-Rex glare. 'We need information from her!'

'She isn't as cocky as Oscura. Getting information from her would probably be easier.' Fiona explained.

'You can't trust her!' Rodger shouted, angrily pointing his horns towards Michelle, indicating he wanted to run her through. Michelle reacted by jumping back and lowering her head in fear.

Buzz chimed in. 'Yeah! She'll just lie to us and send us into a trap!'

'But what choice do we have?' Max asked calmly, trying to settle down the Styracosaurus and Pteranodon before they frightened away the only source in finding their friend, Caruso. 'If we chase her away, how will we find Caruso?'

'Max is right, you two.' Fiona explained. Although she would love to get Michelle for what she's done, she knew that if they did that, they may never see Caruso again. 'Even if Michelle lies to us, isn't any information better than none? Don't you guys want to save Caruso?'

'Yes..but..' Rodger started.

'No buts, Rodger.' Fiona interrupted him. 'This may be our last chance.'

'Fiona is right you guys.' Max said. He turned his head towards Michelle. The smaller dinosaur seemed to be trying to find a way out. He narrowed his eyes. He couldn't let that happen, not when they were so close to finding out the exact location of their missing comrade. He took it upon himself to do the questioning. He would be the most willing to listen to her, and perhaps the most tolerant as well. He wouldn't dare let Buzz or Rodger do the questioning. They would rather attack her first and ask questions later. Fiona was a little better, but she probably wouldn't be able to tolerant Michelle for too long. So he knew it was up to him.

He moved forward as he saw Michelle running for an opening. He lowered his massive head down right in her way. Screeching in shock, Michelle scrambled to stop herself from slamming against the large animal's head. Michelle turned around and bolted towards another opening, one smaller than the previous one. Growling softly, Max quickly moved in her way yet again, blocking her path. Snorting in frustration, Michelle turned and tried for yet another opening. But it ended up the same as before. The large green T-Rex got in her way, preventing her from leaving. She backed up a little in fear.

'I just want to ask you a few questions.' Max explained calmly, hoping that the softness of his voice would settle the Guanlong Wucaii long enough to get some answers out of her. 'Why don't you just make it easier on yourself and answer them?'

'I'm not allowed to tell you anything!' Michelle shouted quickly. The tone of her voice revealed to Max that she didn't seem too happy about having to keep secrets from them. This surprised him a bit. Why would she feel unwilling to hide things from her enemy? But he shrugged it off.

'Do you really want to make this harder on yourself?' Max questioned. 'Tell you what, we'll let you go if you tell us where Caruso is.' He attempted to negotiate with the small black dinosaur, hoping that his offer would make her feel more comfortable in answering.

'I won't tell you anything!' Michelle said defiantly.

'I'll make you answer.' Rodger said as he started to charge towards her. He was abruptly stopped by a roar from Max and the snapping of his jaws so close to him.

'Stop!' Max shouted angrily. Rodger's eyes widened. He had never seen Max fake an attack like that against one of his own friends. While he felt disappointed and a little angry with their leader, he had to back down. He backed up a little, head lowered a little still. Max turned his head back towards Michelle. But before he could get a word out, he realized something was wrong. She was gone! 'She took off!' He shouted, eyes wide. He turned his head back towards Rodger. 'Thanks a lot, Rodger! You created a distraction for her to escape! And we were this close in getting information from her!'

'Don't be so hard on him.' Fiona said, trying to calm their leader down. 'He was only trying to...'

'I see her!' Buzz shouted, hovering above them. With his keen eyesight, he spotted Michelle, still in dino mode, racing off along the streets of Boston, staying mostly in the alleyways. 'She's running over there!'

'Then what are we waiting for?' Rodger said, forgetting about his anger towards Max. 'Let's get her!' Without hesitation, the four dinosaurs took off after Michelle. They knew they had to catch up to her. Maybe she was running back towards the hideout, where Caruso was. As they raced after the Guanlong Wucaii, one thought remained in their minds: Would they get there in time?

"Aaaaahhh!" Caruso slammed against the wall, a series of small yellowish sparks pulsing across his body, giving him a slight glow for several seconds. He managed to keep on his feet despite the pain and the spasms he was experiencing. He managed to open up his eyes just a crack to stare at the man standing before him. Victor stared back at him with a face of stone. In his hands he held some kind of weapon. Just like the others before it, the weapon had a dinosaur-like look to it. In his other hand he held the rope that was attached to the bridle Caruso was still wearing.

"Come over here." Victor demanded calmly, narrowing his eyes slightly.

Caruso glared at Victor, but obliged, although reluctantly, and began to, very slowly, walk towards the man-in-disguise. This was the fifth experiment he had to endure, or maybe it was the sixth. He had lost count. It was hard to really concentrate on how many times he endured an experiment due to the excruciating pain he had to suffer through. They've been all weapon-based experiments. Victor had told him he'd only shoot him once with each weapon he wanted to test, that all he wanted to do was see what kind of damage they'd do. He had assured the boy that none of the weapons would kill him. While, so far, Caruso only suffered minor injuries and short-lived intense pain, he didn't really trust Victor's word and believed that the next weapon would do far more serious damage.

So far, Caruso didn't have to endure any experiments involving one or more of Victor's mutants. But Victor had mentioned that he wanted Caruso to fight at least one of his mutants before the sun would rise over the horizon. When Caruso asked him why, Victor told him it was because he wanted to find the weaknesses in his mutants, but he didn't really explain to Caruso why, although the boy had a hunch why Victor would be interested in the weaknesses that his mutants exhibited instead of their strengths. It didn't take Caruso long to realize that Victor was looking to improve his mutants so they could be used to apprehend his other friends. Silently he wished he could do something to sabotage that experiment, but from within this room, he could do nothing, nothing except try to attack Victor when he was given a chance.

He had decided to switch back into human form after the second weapon test, despite Victor's warning that doing so would only make the pain around his head even worse. Caruso had never explained to Victor why he decided to change back, nor did he listen to Victor's commands, telling him to change back into Stegosaurus form. Victor was tempted to punish Caruso for not listening to him, but he declined, thinking the increased pain would be punishment enough. He thought that, eventually, Caruso would have had enough and change back into dino mode. But about four or so experiments later, Caruso still didn't change back. Victor was somewhat impressed with Caruso's tolerance of the bridle, but had begun to worry a bit.

What if Caruso became too tolerant of the bridle? If Caruso became too resistant to the pain from the bridle, Victor could eventually lose the ability to control him. He narrowed his eyes. He'd have to do something about that. But at the same time he would have to be careful. He didn't want to kill him, at least not yet. He had contemplated about possibly having to finish the boy off if he found a reason to. But maybe he would be able to get done with the experiments and, in the end, being able to let the boy live. He narrowed his eyes further as he thought of this. He believed the only way to, in the end, allow the boy to live without him putting his plans in danger was to get the boy to join him. He stifled a laugh. From what he's seen of the teenager, Caruso would probably rather die than join him.

"W-What do... you want...?" Caruso managed to say, being very careful as he spoke with the bit in his mouth. He could still taste the weird and uncomfortable mix of the metal of the bit and the blood that was continuing to seep from cuts on his tongue, gums, and the roof of his mouth. He gingerly lifted his tongue to lick one of the cuts that was right behind his top incisor teeth, but immediately winced in pain because the motion had caused the bit's spikes to scrape across the top of his tongue.

"Aren't you tired of feeling extra pain yet, hairless monkey?" Victor asked in a tone that was a mixture of surprise and confusion.

Caruso narrowed his eyes and said carefully, "No...I..am fine."

Victor chuckled softly in a way that let Caruso know that he didn't fully believe his statement. Victor motioned his hand towards Caruso, towards his bridle. The boy stifled a shudder as he felt Victor's pointer finger stroked along one of the spiked bands that made up the bridle and stopped at the edge of the bit sticking out of Caruso's mouth. "Are you sure?" He asked softly. "That bit has dug in pretty deep."

Caruso knew Victor was right. The jagged bit had cut in deeply at both corners of his mouth. And he knew the longer he wore the bridle in human form, the further the bit might go. But he didn't want to give into Victor. Growling softly, he swatted Victor's hand away and took a step back. "Leave me alone, scaly freak!"

Victor's eyes glowed and he gave a quick pull on the rope. "What did you say?!" He said angrily.

With tears of pain, Caruso let out a yelp of pain and cringed in a submissive way. "Nothing! Nothing!"

"Don't lie to me!" Veloci growled, giving the bridle another pull, this time hard enough to allow the electricity to flow through the young teen's body. "Tell me the truth now."

"Okay! Okay!" Caruso cried out, trying his best to ignore the pain in his head and mouth. He tried to pull away from the pain, away from Victor, but that only made the pain he was experiencing even worse. Wanting the pain to stop, he gave into Victor's demand and answered his question. "I said... scaly freak.."

Victor gave a scary smile that sent chills down Caruso's spine. He reached out towards the boy again and this time gently rubbed his throat. "Was that so hard..?" He said calmly. Then suddenly, claws grew out of his fingertips and slightly grazed the boy, producing three shallow cuts with very little, if any, blood coming out. He didn't think it could have hurt the boy too much, but Caruso still let out a yelp of pain. "Just consider yourself lucky I didn't press harder." He scolded him. He then released his grip from the boy's neck.

Almost instinctively, Caruso brought his head to where Veloci had grabbed him and gently rubbed the small cuts and looked at his fingers, trying to check for any blood, inspecting the damage Victor might have inflicted on him. He looked up at Victor and opened up his mouth to say something, then thought better of it and shut his mouth and turned his head away. Veloci was right; he was lucky that he didn't press harder. As if he didn't suffer enough injuries as it is...

Victor smirked softly. "Why did you turn your head from me?" He asked as if he didn't know the answer to that question. But he did, in fact, understand the reason why, and it was exactly what he was hoping for. The boy was afraid of him now, although this was already apparent when he slashed his arm earlier with his sickle claw. But sometime after that, the boy continued to try to resist him, but, much to Victor's satisfaction, he did show signs of fear. Victor intended on using that fear to keep Caruso under control. When Caruso didn't answer Victor's question, his eyes narrowed very slightly. "You're afraid of me, aren't you?" He felt the corner of his mouth move upward in a dark smile.

Caruso bared his teeth, biting as hard as he could into the bit without causing himself too much pain. He swerved his head towards Victor, eyes bright with defiance. His right hand was clenched in a fist as he stared into Victor's cold eyes. Victor just stood there watching, waiting. He knew the boy wanted to say something, that he wanted to let it all out. But he also could tell the young human was holding back, knowing the consequence of angering him. He knew the pain he would endure if he dare try something else. Finally, Caruso let out a sigh, and lowered his head. "..yes." It was true he was afraid of Victor, but he still had one final move left. But he wasn't about to let Victor know that. He mustn't allow him to realize he still had a sense of hope.

Victor smiled in satisfaction. "And you should be." He turned around and began to walk towards the door. He lightly pulled on the rope, signaling for Caruso to follow him.

Caruso resisted for only a second or two before quickly giving in and following Victor. When he saw where they were headed, he was a little confused. He had thought that Victor wanted to keep him in this room for the experiments. Why were they leaving? "I thought you wanted to test the experiments on me in this room."

"I do." Victor responded without looking back. "I told one of my men to come over to drop off one of the mutants, restrained of course." He heard Caruso gulp behind him. Chuckling lightly a couple of times, he cast a sideways glance at the teen. "I told you I intended on having you fight one of my mutants."

"And just which mutantsaur do you plan on me fighting?" Caruso asked, sounding more arrogant than he had intended.

"Oh you'll see in due time, human." Victor said, chuckling. "Are you that anxious to fight, little Caruso?" Caruso wanted to respond. He wanted to tell the man to shut up, but he stopped himself. Victor wasn't expecting a response anyway, so he turned back towards the door and opened it up. In the doorway lay a large box. At first, one would believe it was some package filled with a lot of books or other heavy items. But both Victor and Caruso knew better. They could hear the hissing and scratching sounds coming from within the box. Something was in there, and it wanted out.

Caruso stared as Victor moved towards the box to examine the creature inside. The insane billionaire's back was turned towards him, and right in front of him, there was a way out. Caruso clenched a fist, trying to calculate his escape. He could change back into a Stegosaurus and knock Victor down onto the ground. Then, with the little, but precious, time he'd be given, he could bolt, and try to smash his way through the building and escape. He knew it was risky, but he probably wouldn't get another opportunity like this one. He knew it was now or never.

Victor was unaware of what Caruso was planning. His focus was now on the mutantsaur that was in the box. The box was too dark, so he had changed his eyes so he could see better. The mutantsaur wasn't as big as a Stegosaurus, but it seemed it could put up a good fight. Judging from the markings and the anatomy, Victor guessed it was a mutant mole, although it looked different than the other mutant moles he had seen. This one lacked a club tail, had more prominent fangs, and had no eyes. This didn't faze Victor though. All it meant to him was that the mole's other senses were probably heightened, more accute.

The mutantsaur seemed to scent Victor and turned its head towards him. It let out a hiss and charged, but instantly stopped when Victor let out a loud hiss. The mutantsaur backed away a little and seemed to wonder just what it was up against. It paced around the ground, confused at first, and then went back to hissing and snapping towards Victor, although this time keeping its distance. Victor mentally noted that the mole mutant was acting differently than the others had. This was because he had done something different with the primordial ooze. And he was satisfied with how it was working. Now to expose the boy and test it on him...

Caruso continued to feel the urge to attack Victor right then and there tugging away at his body. This action was too much like a double-edged sword for him. He could win his freedom, but if it failed, he could be severely punished. He knew, even before Victor told him, that this raptor was nothing like Moynihan. If he decided to punish him, it wouldn't be something simple like cleaning out a room or washing an animal. Victor could tear out an eye or break one of his legs, or even worse. Caruso shuddered as he thought about it. He knew the chances of him having an open opportunity like this again later on were slim, and if he wanted to be free, he should take the chance. But would it really be worth it?

He began to think about his friends and his family. What were they doing at this moment? Maybe they were looking for him. Maybe they were in the city, trying to find him. Maybe they would get here in time. Maybe they would be able to free him from this nightmare. But quickly Caruso let his hopes die down. He had been thinking that since he was captured, and no rescuer came to aide him. And the trackers were all destroyed. How were they going to find him? What were the odds of that? Caruso frowned softly, scolding himself silently for allowing himself to get worked up over nothing.

Victor glanced over his shoulder to look at Caruso, checking to make sure the boy hadn't attempted to escape. Although he had his doubts the boy would try anything, not with that nasty bridle on him. He turned his head back towards the mutant mole. "Are you prepared, human?"

Caruso nearly felt his heart skip a beat when Victor turned towards him. He thought he had lost his opportunity to escape. But he felt relieved when Victor once again turned his back towards him. And he knew that wouldn't last too long. He would have to act now. As he started his transformation, he responded to Victor's question. "Why yes I am..very prepared."

"You are?" Victor asked, sounding a little surprised. "Good then." Victor kept his back towards the boy, and lifted his hand to open up the mutantsaur's door. But he was caught off guard when he felt something slam painfully at his side. The villain grunted in pain and hit the ground roughly. While he was on the ground, he felt a shadow overcast him and he looked up. Caruso was now in his huge dinosaur form. Victor hissed angrily as he realized what happened. The little brat had pulled a sneak attack on him! Oh he'll pay for that!

After managing to knock Victor down with a light tail swipe, Caruso charged towards the door, preparing to knock the box over and get away. But he had seemed to forget about the bridle he was wearing, despite the pain it was bringing him. His mind was too focused on escaping. The only obstacle that remained was this box. And the mutantsaur inside couldn't have been that big. It wouldn't stop him.

AAAAARRRRAAAAAAAAAARRRRRR!

Caruso's eyes widened and he halted in front of the box. That roar, it was so hideous, so horrifying it had stopped him in his tracks. He had never heard such a sound in his life. He stood frozen, staring in shock at the box and the sound it had just gave out. What was wrong with him? Why wasn't he moving? Caruso kept scolding himself, trying to get himself to move. But his feet remained planted on the ground, and his eyes remained fixated on the box in front of him. He was instantly brought out of his trance when he felt a searing pain overwhelm him, culminating around his head and mouth.

Victor's face was contorted into a scowl. "Filthy little scoundrel! You still think you have a chance of escaping here?!" He pulled the rope attached to the bridle forcefully, driving the spikes deeper into Caruso's head. As Caruso let out a bellow of pain, Victor said coldly, "I told you I knew how to break humans. Now it's your turn..." With that he gave another sharp tug on the bridle, resulting in another Stegosaur scream from Caruso.

Caruso shook his head, trying to pull it away from the pain. But the more he pulled, the more pain he was in. He felt himself being pulled towards Victor. His eyes widened, and he tried again to pull back. But his attempt was met with sharp spikes starting to dig into the skin around his eyes. With tears of pain, he cried out. He was learning the hard way that the most sensitive spot of a Stegosaur's head was around the eyes. Wanting desperately to get away, Caruso blindly slammed his tail into the ground, trying to hard to hit Victor, but kept missing because his eyes were shut tightly, and couldn't see what he was hitting.

Victor continued to pull the Stegosaurus towards him. His sharp teeth were bared again, and he was resisting the urge to sink them into this foolish boy. His face had turned into a reddish shade of rage. The muscles in his arm were bulked up a bit, giving him more strength as he pulled on the rope, forcing Caruso to get closer to him. "Stop trying to resist me!" Victor shouted. "I've had enough of you, boy! You will submit to me!"

'N-No...! I won't..!' Caruso said bravely, trying his best to take his mind off the pain. He felt himself getting closer and closer to Victor. Finally he felt the tension from the bridle be released. He opened up his eyes, and found himself staring into Victor's enraged eyes. Victor was holding onto the headpiece, and pulling in such a way that Caruso wouldn't be able to pull away without causing some serious damage.

"I must admit, you have managed to keep up your resistance longer than others under my command have." Victor said in a strangely calm voice. "But like them, you will eventually give in."

'M-M-Make..me...' Caruso said boldly.

"Oh believe me, I intend to, you hairless monkey." Victor said darkly, and, without any warning, tugged on the headpiece with all his strength and activated the electricity inside the bridle. He was holding a safe part of the bridle where the electricity wouldn't harm him.

Caruso let out another bellow of anguish, feeling the spikes cutting around his eyes and head, the bit cutting against the corners of his mouth, the electricity mercilessly wreaking havoc on his body, and the blood dripping from the freshly open wounds on his head. Caruso was becoming overwhelmed in agony. He didn't know how much more of this he could take. The electricity was extremely painful. It felt like his nerves were going to be ripped right out of him. And the spikes on his head and in his mouth, they were just as bad. He was becoming frightened that he may end up blind or mute, or maybe even worse...

He opened up an eye and looked at Victor. Silently he was begging for mercy, hoping Victor would let up and release him. Victor saw this, and slowly smiled. But instead of stopping, he continued to pull on the bridle, allowing more electricity to course through the boy's body, and allowed the spikes to dig in deeper. "A human bridle you will never forget." He said coldly. "If you want me to stop, submit to me."

'N-No..I...' Caruso started to say but stopped and closed his eyes tightly. He tried his best to stifle a scream, but his will failed him. As he screamed, the bridle cut in further into his mouth, and the bit had cut into the top of his tongue deeply, almost slicing a chunk off. Unable to take the pain anymore, Caruso looked at Victor with watery eyes. 'I..I give up...please..stop..'

Victor narrowed his eyes, wondering briefly if this was another trap. But he obliged, not wanting to damage Caruso too much. He released the tension on the headpiece. Caruso changed back into his human form, but remained on the ground. He was on his knees, supporting himself with shaky arms. His eyes were wide with pain, and tears flowed from his eyes. He was trying hard not to cry, but the pain was too much. He tried to lift his tongue, but it stung mercilessly every time. He quickly realized that he wasn't going to be able to talk in human form. He closed his eyes tightly as he realized this, and stifled a sob. He could feel his dreams of becoming a celebrity slip through his fingers as he felt the pain in his mouth as well as on his face. Victor watched this sight and shook his head. "Such a weak thing you are." Caruso looked up at Victor. "You're no different than any other human I've..tamed so-to-speak."

Caruso tried to respond, but as soon as he opened his mouth to speak, he was quickly subdued by the pain on his mouth corners and tongue. He yelped, and brought a hand to his mouth, but wouldn't dare touch it for fear it would only make the pain worse.

"And you can forget about your friends rescuing you." Victor said as he knelt down in front of the boy. "I've told you this already. They'll never find you. I've sent Oscura and Michelle to take care of them." When Caruso looked at him in shock, Victor said, "Oh don't worry, I won't kill them. In fact, they might be joining you soon..." Caruso didn't respond. He simply turned his head away, his eyes downcast, having lost the fighting spirit they once had. Victor reached out and gripped the boy's lower jaw firmly and forced him to look at him in the eyes. "And don't think Moynihan will be able to help you either. That little traitor is no different than I am."

Caruso's eyes widened, and he attempted to jerk his head away. But Victor responded by gripping him tighter and pulling him roughly closer. As he looked at Victor with tear-filled eyes, the raptor said, "It's true, weakling. You told me yourself she trains you and your friends, didn't you? Why do you think she does that? Because she cares about you?" Victor chuckled coldly, half-heartedly. "I'm afraid you're mistaken. She's only doing it because she thinks you humans are weak too. She knows that mere humans would never be able to defeat me. So she trains you to become stronger. And why do you think she scolds you when you do something wrong? Just like me, she wants to control you. She wants you to submit to her will. She has her own way of doing it, I admit, but it's still the same thing."

Caruso started to tremble as Victor was telling him this. He felt a strange feeling well up inside of him. He couldn't bring himself to refuse to believe what Victor was telling him. He was allowing the information to digest in him. He could feel his will to resist weaken as the Velociraptor continued to speak harshly to him.

Victor moved his head closer to the boy so that his mouth was close to the side of his face. Victor then whispered into the boy's ear. "Do you deny it? You cannot deny it can you? You know it's true." He released his grip on the boy.

As much as Caruso would have loved to shout that he would deny it, he couldn't bring himself to disbelieve Victor. Everything he was telling him, it was making sense. Maybe Moynihan really wasn't any better than Victor was. She used more humane methods, but perhaps she was just like Victor. He could feel his will to fight back diminish as he accepted this new information, and let his body relax, no longer trying to move away from Victor or resist him. What was the point anymore? Even if Victor was wrong, his friends would never find him. He would never leave this place. He just had to accept that fact. He slowly closed his eyes and sighed softly, lowering his head in a sign of submission.

Smiling in satisfaction, Victor placed his hand on Caruso's head, stroking his dark bluish hair gently in a mocking sort of way. Caruso shuddered as Victor did this, but didn't resist. "There's a good lad." He said calmly, showing his sharp teeth as he grinned.

Caruso whimpered softly as Victor made that statement. A chill was spreading throughout his body as he came to the realization that he had lost. He had admitted defeat, and accepted his loss. He lost the will to fight back. He stared at his hands on the ground, and clenched them. A few tears streamed down his face and dripped onto the cold hard ground. He nearly gasped when he saw a slight tinge of red in them. He trembled again as he started to wonder if he would ever heal, both physically...and mentally. He began to worry about his loved ones. If they found him, were they going to find nothing but his corpse rotting on the ground? Caruso swallowed hard, trying so hard not to sob.

So this was how it was going to end, Caruso thought. He had, at one time, predicted that he would be kidnapped, but he never realized it would have been like this, for this reason. He thought he would be kidnapped for ransom because he thought he would become a great and popular celebrity. He felt he had the looks and the talent. He had never known a time in his life when he didn't want to be rich and famous. But now he may not ever get a chance. No matter what he could do, who'd want to see him now, with these cuts on his face? He gingerly placed a hand on his face, and winced as he felt the bridle's cold material.

"This is hard for you, isn't it?" Victor asked callously. "I wouldn't be surprised. Celebrity wannabes like yourself are so sensitive to criticism and the cold hard truth. Someone says one thing negative about you and you let them walk all over you." Caruso looked up at Victor again, eyes wide with a mixture of fear and mild shock. But he didn't try to talk back and prove Victor wrong. "And if they aren't lacking confidence, they're too arrogant. I've seen celebrity wannabes who are so cocky that, even if everyone else disagrees with them, they believe they have talent and can make something of themselves." He gave the teen a cold glance. "And you, my little prisoner, are both."

Caruso's body shook once as he took notice of one of the words Victor had used: prisoner. It gave him a sense of entrapment, never to be free again. He glanced at the ceiling above him and wondered if he was never going to see daylight again.

"In the time you have been here, you've proven to be a rather arrogant and yet insecure individual. You think you had what it takes to defeat me, but in the end, you're just a coward, a weakling." Veloci said coldly. "You will never amount up to anything, do you realize that, Irwin? You can't deny it. You know I speak the truth. I bet you drove your friends insane with your pathetic visions of fame and fortune. I'm probably doing them a favor keeping you here."

Caruso couldn't hold back any longer and let out an audible cry, shuddering and breathing in sharply as tears flowed uncontrollably on his face, stinging him a little. He knew succumbing this way would only prove Victor's point even further, but he didn't care anymore. Victor's statement made him realize that his friends probably had abandoned him on purpose. Maybe they did sacrifice him to Victor just to save themselves. Perhaps they had grown tired of him and his fame-seeking ways.


	9. Closer

Victor narrowed his eyes as he watched the little boy sobbing on the ground. It was such a pathetic sight. But he had grown used to seeing things like this since he became in charge of Raptor Dyne. Some of his other minions reacted in this manner due to extreme fear. Humans were so weak, he thought. All he would have to do is show his teeth and they cower like frightened vermin. But could he really blame them? After all, a human had no natural defenses against a large predator like a Velociraptor.

Growing tired of watching Caruso cry, Victor took a step forward and gently nudged him with his foot. "Stop your crying and get up, Caruso." He demanded. Much to his delight, the boy complied without hesitation, immediately climbing to his feet and looked at him for further direction. But tears still streamed down his face. "Come with me." Without hesitation, Caruso began to follow Victor in an obedient manner. He kept his head low, his eyes downcast. The tears slowly stopped flowing and his face started to dry up. He couldn't cry anymore.

"You brought this on yourself you know." Victor said as he led Caruso back towards the box with the mutantsaur inside. "You should have done this in the first place, submitted to my authority without question. Perhaps then I wouldn't have had to inflict pain on you." Caruso winced. "It's your own fault. You had to be such a hot shot didn't you? If you hadn't tested my patience and tried to escape, this would not have happened." Victor slowly shook his head as he placed his hand on the lock that held the creature inside. "You were lucky I didn't end up killing you."

Victor transformed a fingernail into a talon and picked the lock on the box. After he heard it click, he pulled the lock down and then twisted it to one side. Carefully he pulled it off. Slowly the door creaked open, and the mole mutant slowly approached, growling and hissing softly. Victor turned to Caruso. "Transform and fight." He commanded.

'She's getting away!' Rodger shouted angrily as he made a sharp turn to where he briefly spotted Michelle.

They had been chasing Michelle for about five minutes now. While in reality it wasn't a very long time, to them it seemed like an eternity. Several times already they lost Michelle only to have her reappear, much to their luck, briefly and they gave chase again. They had left the city now and were in a park. Just which one they weren't sure of. They were in a more open area now but Michelle's dark skin helped her blend in to the shadows more easily, and there were still bushes and trees for her to hide in.

They didn't understand fully why she would run out here. She didn't have as many hiding places as she did before, and it was a little easier for Buzz to maneuver in the skies without the skyscrapers and narrow alleyways in his path. And what confused them a bit more was the fact that not once during the chase had Michelle attempted to attack. This didn't seem like the Michelle they had become acquainted with back at the lighthouse, where she didn't really hesitate to attack. Something has frightened Michelle, they could tell.

But the Dino Squad didn't really care, at this point, what had frightened Michelle. A couple even believed she wasn't scared at all, and was probably just trying to trick them into thinking she was. They could not come up with a reason for Michelle to want them to believe that other than to let their guard down. But despite lack of evidence, they stuck strongly to their opinions due to their hatred for this girl. This was apparent with both Rodger and Buzz. Max thought he might have to confront these two to keep them from doing anything drastic once they caught up with Michelle. He knew they couldn't sink to her level.

From the skies, Buzz spotted Michelle running towards what appeared to be a huge building. The building was still a good distance away. Buzz narrowed his yellow eyes. Why would Michelle bother running to that particular building? There was really nothing overly special about it, looking all run down and such. Probably just a hiding spot, he thought. He made a sharp turn in the air and dove down to get closer to his friends.

'She's heading over there.' Buzz said, pointing his heard towards the run down building. 'To that large building over there.'

Max took one look at the distant building and blinked a few times. It didn't seem to make sense to him. In appearance, the building didn't seem to be anything special. There was no indication of Victor anywhere in this vicinity. He couldn't even scent Victor. And the building didn't seem like it could easily withstand a T-Rex attack. Why would Michelle hide in there? 'In there? Why?'

'Who cares why? Let's just go after her!' Rodger yelled.

'But what if it's a trap?' Fiona asked softly, her voice sounding a little bit cautious. 'I don't know if we should...'

'But if we let her escape, we may never have another chance to find Caruso!' Rodger turned his head to Fiona, eyes narrowed dangerously. 'I don't know about you, but I'm not about to risk losing this chance!'

'I don't want to lose this chance either, but...' Fiona trailed off, unsure with how to continue her sentence.

'But what?' Rodger asked bitterly.

Fiona sighed. '..I don't want to lose anymore of my friends.' She said softly, slowing her pace slightly.

'How are you...' Rodger's voice trailed off.

Fiona narrowed her eyes slightly. 'What if Veloci catches one of you guys? What if he catches all of us?' She turned her head away. 'I..I don't know how I'll be able to handle losing another one of you guys to those..monsters.'

Upon hearing that, Rodger's expression softened. He started to feel guilty about how he had acted towards her. 'I..I'm sorry.'

Straight ahead, Michelle continued her relatively slow pace, well slow for a Guanlong Wucaii that is. Leading the Dino Squad to the hideout and making it look like an accident was more difficult than she had thought. She wondered if it was her black skin and all the foliage around. But it seemed to take more effort to keep the Dino Squad seeing her than it was to hide from them. She was thankful that Oscura wasn't around. She would have seen through this plan almost right away and report her to Victor. Taking a quick glance behind her to see the distant forms of the other dinosaurs, she started to wonder where Oscura was. She was supposed to be trying to capture the Tyrannosaurus Rex and Spinosaurus. Perhaps they had won the fight against her.

Michelle mentally shrugged it off. It wasn't really of her concern. If she didn't show up back at Raptor Dyne and Dr. Veloci asks her about her partner, she could just say that she lost contact with Oscura. Victor wouldn't be happy, but what was he to do? He can always send out a search party, look for her himself, or she'll show up eventually. This wasn't the first time she had disappeared on a mission. It happened once before and she returned with no apparent injury. While Oscura did claim she didn't disappear on purpose, she never did state the reason for her absence. This made Michelle a bit suspicious of her, and it was pretty much downhill ever since.

Michelle gritted her teeth. She knew Oscura has it out for her. She knew Oscura would do whatever she could to get her into trouble and fired, or even killed. Keeping this little trick from Oscura was not going to be easy. She was very observant and was not easily fooled. She had attempted to lie to Oscura a few times. She just laughed it off and told her she wasn't fooling anyone. She began to wonder how she was going to fool her this time. Because now if Oscura sees through her lies, she'll get into trouble with Victor, big trouble.

Suddenly her foot got caught in something. She cried out as she slammed against the ground, hitting her dinosaur chin pretty hard. She hissed and looked behind her. There was a tree root that had grown out of the ground. She wasn't paying attention to where she was going and had got her foot caught in it. She narrowed her eyes and started to pull her leg out. But it was stuck in there pretty good. She quickly changed back into a human and grabbed on the branch and pulled even harder. But the root wouldn't give way. She started to feel her heart race when she saw the Dino Squad gaining up to her and fast.

"Oh no..." Michelle said to herself. "Not now..."

She pressed her free foot against the tree root and started to push while trying to pull her leg in the opposite direction. But it was almost like someone had tied a rope around her ankle and it was one or two sizes too small. She pushed on the root as she could with her hands, but they slipped. She yelped as she felt the bark scrape against her hands. She quickly examined them and was relieved to see no blood was drawn.

She looked back at the Dino Squad. Her eyes widened. They were close enough to see that she was stuck now and had nowhere to go. She transformed her head and bit down on the thick root. Growling and snarling, she gnawed at it the best that she could with her sharp teeth. She moved her lower jaw forward and back in a sawing motion, and she could feel the root start to snap a little. She glanced over and knew she didn't have much time before the Dino Squad would be upon her. She quickened her pace, hoping she'd get free before they came close enough to grab her.

'I see her!' Buzz shouted as he rose up a little higher in the air. 'It looks like her foot is stuck. She has nowhere to go. We got her!' Without hesitating, Buzz dove down to the ground. As his feet were about to touch the grass, he shifted back into human form and made a dash towards where he had seen Michelle. It looked like she was almost free and he wasn't about to let her get away.

'Well that is good news.' Rodger commented. After he saw Buzz change back, he looked up at their leader. 'Should we change back too?'

Max closed his eyes to think about this. He, Rodger, and Fiona had stopped in their tracks. He knew Buzz will be able to apprehend Michelle without their help for now. Max wasn't entirely sure on which course of action that they should take. He wanted to get information from Michelle, and it could probably be easier to do that in human form. If they looked too threatening, they could frighten her too much and she wouldn't tell them anything. On the other hand, if they go over in human form, Michelle could transform, break free, and attack one of them before they could have a good chance at defending themselves.

Should they remain in human form and have a better chance at getting information as well as getting attacked? Or should they stay in dino mode and be safer but have a harder time getting information? It was going to be a tough decision. But he knew he had to make the decision that would be in Caruso's best interest. He had to keep in mind that Caruso was the reason they were here. If he made the wrong decision, they could lose him..forever. Max winced mentally at that thought. He wondered if he would ever get a chance to speak to Caruso about how harshly he had acted.

Why had he snapped like that? Was he under too much pressure? Had he really meant what he said, about getting tired of his behavior in general? It was heart-wrenching for Max to think about what he had told Caruso just the previous day. It was uncalled for and he wouldn't blame Caruso if he hated him for it. He could only hope that, if..no..when they rescue Caruso, that he would forgive him.

Unable to come up with a decision himself, Max turned to Rodger and Fiona. 'What do you guys think would be best?' He felt a little weird doing this. He had grown too used to giving the orders himself. But then again, in the other times, none of them were captured by Veloci.

It didn't take much thought for Rodger to decide what he wanted to do. 'Stay in dino mode. If we let our guard down, she could get away!'

Fiona turned her gaze towards the Styracosaurus. 'But if we stay in dino mode, wouldn't that more easily scare her off?'

'So what?' Rodger rolled his eyes. 'She deserves it after what she did!'

'But what about Caruso?' Fiona growled. 'I thought we were here to rescue him, not capture Michelle.'

'I know that, Fiona.' Rodger pawed the Earth with his foot, looking like he was ready to charge towards where Buzz ran off to. 'And Caruso is exactly the reason why we should remain in dino mode. If Michelle tries to get away, we'll have an easier time catching her.'

'Good point, but I still don't know...' Fiona began to explain.

Max shifted his gaze from Fiona to Rodger multiple times as he listened to them debate on what to do. He let out a soft sigh. He knew he would be given the burden of a final decision once again, something that he normally wasn't too bothered by. But the other times it wasn't a life and death situation. He knew all it would take is one wrong decision and they're finished. So which decision would increase their chances of catching Michelle and making her talk? The only other choice that they could make that would give them any progress is to allow Fiona and Rodger to remain in dino mode or change back into a human rather than all three of them doing it. Max narrowed his eyes. It was the only choice that could bring forth some progress.

'Well excuse me, princess!' Rodger retorted, breaking Max's concentration.

Max snorted through his nostrils. 'That's enough you two!' He snapped, taking a few massive steps forward and getting in between Rodger and Fiona. What had gotten into these two today? They had never fought like this before. 'Anyway, you two, if it makes you feel better, why don't we go over there in whichever form we feel most comfortable in. Would that satisfy you two?'

Fiona and Rodger stared at each other for several seconds before sharply turning away from one another and saying in unison, 'Fine.'

Max sighed. 'Okay then. Stop acting like children and follow me.' He ordered.

'We aren't...!' Rodger started to stay but quickly stopped himself. He looked up at Fiona, trying to forget his anger, and gave her a nod. Rodger started to run up ahead of Max and Fiona, but was forced to slow down when he nearly ran into Max. The Tyrannosaurus Rex gave a disapproving shake of the head, and shifted back into human form. Rodger stared down at the jock, eyes narrowed. 'Why aren't you letting me go first? If anything, I should be the first one there to make sure she doesn't do anything to...'

"Rodger, Buzz is there." Rolf Maxwell tried to explain. "I don't think she'll be going anywhere for a while."

'How can you be so certain?' Rodger asked, lowering his head a little to be more eye level with the leader.

"I'm not." Max admitted, rubbing the back of his head nervously. "What I am certain of is if you just rush in while in dino mode, you could make Michelle struggle faster and then she'll get free and get away. We don't want that to happen now do we?"

'Well I...' Rodger started.

'Let's just go.' Fiona said, interrupting the two boys. She was getting tired of debating on what they should do. Without hesitation, she changed back into a human and rushed passed Max and Rodger towards where Michelle was still trapped. She didn't know, herself, why she and Rodger spent a good amount of precious time arguing. They should have known better. She could only hope their stupid argument hadn't delayed them too much.

Despite not being part of any sports related extracurricular activities at school, Fiona was a good distance in front of Max. She had a longer stride, something she acquired from using the Spinosaurus form so many times. The T-Rex might be a powerful predator, but it wasn't very fast compared to a Spinosaurus. Fiona looked behind her and could see Max trying his best to catch up with her. Despite the seriousness of the situation, she couldn't help but smirk in an almost playful tone.

"Aww..am I moving too fast for you, Maxwell?" She asked him.

"Just focus on getting to Michelle before she gets her foot free!" Max ordered, huffing and puffing as he tried to move faster. It didn't take him long to gain enough speed to be almost side by side with Fiona.

"Yeah yeah, I know." Fiona told him and turned her head. She squinted her eyes. She could make out Buzz's form standing over another one. She smiled a little. They still had time. As she got closer, she could see that Buzz had grabbed onto Michelle's arm and held a firm grip on her. Michelle was clearly trying to pull away, but suddenly winced and stopped. Fiona didn't know why at first, but when she squinted her eyes further, she could see a little red. Her eyes widened a bit. Was that blood she saw?

Max saw this as well and flinched a little. He wondered why Buzz felt the need to hurt her. It wasn't like she had anywhere to do. It wasn't like he couldn't blame Buzz though. Yet he couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Michelle. Pteranodon claws were no laughing matter. Next to the Velociraptor claws, they were the most merciless set of talons he'd never come across. Although it was an accident, he had suffered under Buzz's claws once before, when they were dealing with some mutated skunks. He had accidentally got in Buzz's path when he went to slash them. Buzz ended up hitting Max on the face. Luckily the gashes healed with no signs of scarring, but it did give Max a healthy respect for flying reptiles.

His thoughts were interrupted by the pounding of Rodger's monstrous feet behind them. Many times Max had forgotten just how heavy the Styracosaurs really were. Every footfall felt like a massive tremor to a human such as himself. He glanced behind him. Rodger was, sure enough, still in dino mode. He understood why Rodger wanted to remain in dino mode, but he wondered if Rodger understood the consequences that might occur due to that choice. But then again, there were consequences for choosing to turn back into human form, so he wasn't the one to talk.

Michelle stared at the claws digging into her arm and looked up at her captor in fear. Buzz returned the glance with a cold stare. Michelle started to pull on her leg to try to get free, but her effort was met with a tightening grip on the arm. She stifled a yelp and immediately stopped pulling her leg. She stared at the remaining Dino Squad heading her way. Two of them had also changed back into human form while the final one remained in dino mode. Michelle hung her head as she thought about what might happen to her now.

She started to feel angry. She wasn't sure if it was at herself or at the Dino Squad. She was so close to getting her foot free. If it weren't for Buzz, she would have gotten away in time and be able to lead them to the warehouse. But he had tackled her and pinned her down. He had threatened her, frightened her to the point where she tried to jerk back only to get her foot even more stuck than it was before. To ensure she wouldn't run away, Buzz had gripped her arm in a rather rough manner. He had made it clear to her that she wasn't going to get away this time and that he was going to make sure of that. When she tried to talk to him, he snapped at her, explaining to her why he should listen to her after she'd hurt him with her lies and deception.

Michelle flinched as he had told her that. Buzz had regarded her as a monster because of what she had helped put them through. While she felt hurt by what he had said, she knew he was right. It was her fault they were in this situation in the first place. And nothing she could say would justify her actions. Caruso had helped her realize that.

As the Dino Squad drew nearer, Buzz gave Michelle an almost evil smile. "You have no where to go now." He told her. He felt a mixture of joy, satisfaction, and eagerness well up inside of him. Finally, after all this time, they were going to rescue Caruso. "As soon as my friends get here, you're in for it."

Michelle's eyes widened as she looked from Buzz to the advancing Dino Squad ahead. "Please! I..I'm just trying to help! I.." She tried to beg, feeling desperate. She didn't think it was going to work but it was worth a try anyway.

Buzz snarled and jerked her arm roughly, pulling her a little closer to him as he replied to her. "Liar!" He said coldly to her, talking through clenched teeth. "All you ever did was lie! Why should I believe you now?"

"Because I'm being serious this time!" Michelle tried to explain to him. "I want to help you find Caruso!"

Buzz bared his Pteranodon teeth. "Do you take me for a fool?"

Michelle opened up her mouth to reply, but words failed her. What exactly could she say to him? Anything she had to say he would misinterpret as a trap. She truly did want to help them, but not like this. It would be too apparent for Victor, she knew. It wouldn't take him long to realize that she had helped them. Even if it was unwilling, Victor would probably still go haywire on her. He would question her competence and possibly have her fired. No..in this case, it was probably going to be death.

After witnessing Michelle's inability to answer back, he narrowed his eyes further. "I thought so." He then heard the sound of a twig snap and immediately turned his head. He smiled a little as he saw Max and Fiona only a few yards away. He lifted up his arm and waved at them, signaling them to come closer.

While Buzz was temporarily distracted, Michelle narrowed her eyes, realizing it was now or never. If she wanted her plan to succeed, she must get away. She glanced down at her foot, wondering just how she was going to break free. She then took notice of something she hadn't seen before about this root. One part of it was thinner and weaker than the rest. She wondered if this was due to the strain she had put on it through her struggles. Nevertheless, if she could only break that weak point, she would be free. During the precious seconds she had left, she bit down onto the root. Almost immediately, she heard shouts from the Dino Squad.

"Oh no! Stop her!" Fiona shouted, quickening her pace.

"Buzz!" Max warned the punk teen. "She's almost free!"

Buzz immediately turned towards Michelle. "Oh no you don't..!" He lowered his free hand to try to stop Michelle, but he reacted too late. He heard the sound of the vine snapping. As soon as her leg was free, Michelle roughly shoved Buzz into the ground. She transformed back into a Guanlong Wucaii and leaped over him and dashed in a new direction. "No!" He shouted angrily as he picked himself off the ground.

"Hurry!" Max ordered the others. "Before she gets too far!" Frustration quickly set in. How many more times were they going to suffer close calls like this? How long will they have to endure the pain of broken hope before they actually get to Caruso?

'Buzz!' Rodger scolded as he got closer and realized Michelle had gotten away. The others had already left, chasing after Michelle. They didn't notice that Rodger and Buzz had stopped in their tracks and were yelling at each other. Rodger was infuriated that Buzz didn't grab Michelle when he had the chance. Sure he was on the ground, but he could have grabbed her by the ankle or something. And now they had yet another chase on their hands. 'Why didn't you grab her?!' He bellowed angrily, glaring down at Buzz.

Buzz growled and gripped the nose horn on Rodger's head. Why was Rodger blaming him for this? It wasn't like he hadn't tried! "Well excuse me for being knocked on the ground! And what exactly did you do? Hung out in the back until she would get free?!"

'I was running as fast as I could!' Rodger cried. 'And you could have still grabbed her! She was right there!'

Buzz pressed his head between Rodger's eyes. "Don't be putting the blame on me! I tried my best!"

Rodger snarled, eyes narrowed. 'And your best wasn't good enough!'

"Stop this ridiculous bickering, you two!" They heard someone shout behind them. They immediately took a few steps away from each other and turned their heads. Standing there, with her arms folded, was Ms. Moynihan. At her feet stood Rump. While he was not human, he seemed to almost understand the gravity of the situation and had his ears lowered as he stared up at Buzz and Rodger. Moynihan shook her head disapprovingly at her two students. She had expected better behavior from them, especially during a crisis such as this. "Why are you wasting time putting the blame on one another? How is that going to solve anything?"

As she awaited for her answer, Ms. Moynihan started to wonder where Oscura had run off too. She had managed to get the better of the Troodon and had forced her to talk through tickling. She didn't know how she managed to pull that off without actually causing harm, but it worked. She got Oscura to tell her what she wanted to know. When she went to find the others, Rump had ran in her direction. He must have ran from the others at some point. He was barking at her, trying to get her attention. When she had followed him, she ended up here, where Rodger and Buzz were arguing. Needless to say, she was disappointed in them. She had briefly caught a glimpse of Fiona and Max running after a third figure, Michelle no doubt.

'Well, Ms. M...we...I...' Rodger tried to say, but he couldn't come up with an excuse for his and Buzz's behavior. Feeling ashamed, he lowered his head. 'I'm sorry.' He didn't know what was wrong with him today. Maybe he was just edgy because they are so close to finding Caruso and he was worried they will fail yet again.

"Yeah...I'm sorry too." Buzz said, rubbing the back of his head in a nervous manner. "I don't know what came over me." He then took notice of something. "Hey..how are you walking again?"

"Never mind that now." Moynihan said, holding up a hand. They didn't have much time to waste. "I'll tell you later. Right now we have more important things to discuss." She took a few steps closer. "I just spoke to Oscura."

"Who?" Buzz asked, confused.

"Michelle's partner." Moynihan explained. Rodger and Buzz scowled as she told them that. They remembered Oscura now, all too well. "I got her to tell me where Caruso is being hidden."

'What?! How?' Rodger was shocked. He didn't think anything could make that Troodon talk. He thought she would be too stubborn to say anything.

"I have my..ways." Joanne replied in an almost sly voice, smiling softly. But that quickly changed into a frown. "She wouldn't tell me exactly which room, but she says there's a warehouse nearby."

"Yeah I saw!" Buzz said, pointing where Max and Fiona had taken off to. "I saw a warehouse over there! That's where Michelle was going!" Then memories started to flood back to him. His eyes widened sharply as he finally remembered what he forgot about the Boston Common. "That's what I forgot! Out here, they were going to build a Super Walmart, but the project was canceled. The building was never taken down though. It would be large enough to hold a Stegosaurus!"

'Why didn't you say something before?' Rodger asked urgently at this new information. 'If we had known earlier, we could have...'

"I just forgot. I'm sorry!" Buzz shouted apologetically, holding up his hands.

'How could you have forgotten?! I...' Rodger started to scold Buzz, but immediately stepped down when he saw Moynihan glaring at him.

"We have to catch up with the others." Moynihan told them. Time was of the essence. She knew that well, and she knew the others understood too. But even if they got there in time, would they be able to find Caruso and free him before Victor found them?

"Come back here!" Fiona shouted as Michelle was within earshot. The black dinosaur looked back at her, but ignored the command. Instead she just started to run faster. Fiona let out a groan of frustration. Why was she even bothering to try? Michelle would never listen to her. And why should she? She wasn't under their orders. She was under Victor's. Upon thinking of that name, Fiona's stomach tensed in emotional pain. What had he done to Caruso?

"Look, if you slow down and just tell us what we need to know," Max tried to negotiate with Michelle, "we promise we won't hurt you!"

Michelle gave him a sideways glance, staring at him with her golden eyes. 'Yeah right. Do you take me for a fool?' She asked in an almost cold voice. 'If you want me to talk, you have to catch me first!' She turned away from him and made another turn, nearly slipping on the ground as she did so. She was still heading towards the warehouse, but had made plenty of turns to try to lead Max and Fiona towards a weak point in the building. There was one section that didn't have a security monitor. She knew that's where the Dino Squad would have to enter if they wanted a better chance at rescuing their friend with the least amount of initial resistance.

"You're only making this harder on yourself!" Max shouted at her.

'If you're so interested in me, why don't you just go dino already and attack me?' Michelle asked darkly as she leaped forward to gain more distance between her and the pursuing teenagers.

Panting heavily, Fiona managed to say, "Do you really want to tempt us?" Her eyes narrowed slightly.

'Umm..yes.' Michelle chuckled in a dinosaurian way to disguise her nervousness. She was starting to feel relieved when they came within yards of the building. She increased her speed, making her way towards the unsecured door. 'And besides, you slowpokes don't stand a chance at saving you weak little friend.'

Fiona's eyes glowed. "You've asked for it."

"Fiona, don't..!" Max tried to warn her, but it was too late.

Fiona's legs started to lengthen a little, changing from their human flesh color into a more yellowish shade. The muscles started to increase in size and bulked up. There was a dramatic increase in her speed, and within seconds she had covered the same amount of distance that would normally take her about twice as long. She was now only a few feet behind Michelle. She held out her arms to prepare to grab her as she tensed up her legs to jump.

Sensing the impending danger, Michelle, who had finally reached the door into the large warehouse, shifted back into her human form. As she looked behind her, Fiona had started to leap at her. She could make out the sharp Spinosaurus claws on the ends of her fingertips. Michelle's eyes widened and she quickly opened up the door as fast as she could and stepped inside. Quickly and without thinking, she slammed the door shut. There was a loud thud as Fiona slammed against it, hitting her head pretty hard on the cold metal. She fell to the ground.

Michelle placed her hand on her chest, feeling her racing heart pump heavily. She took in a few breaths, taking a mental note on how close of a call that was. She then tried to calm herself down as much as she could and made her way down the dirty hallway that lay before her. She had done her job. All she had to do was wait. But before she got that far, she nearly bumped into another figure. She growled softly. "Why hello Oscura..."

"Hello, Michelle..." Oscura said back. Her arms were folded and she was learning against the wall. "What brings you here? Didn't you catch those two pesky teenagers?" She asked, looking behind Michelle as if she expected her to be bringing prisoners. She was a little disappointed that Michelle was alone.

Michelle shook her head, looking behind her. "No, but they're right behind me." She said without realizing it. "They must've followed me." When she realized her mistake, it was too late. She had spilled the beans. She glanced back at Oscura for a reaction. She could feel her heartbeat speeding up a little. She hoped that Oscura wouldn't catch on.

"Oh did they now?" Oscura said, cocking an eyebrow. "I wouldn't be surprised. They would have gotten here anyway with or without your help." She was still annoyed at how easily Moynihan had gotten the information from her. Who would have guessed that tickling could be such a persuasive tool? She thought about using that method one of these days, even though it didn't suit her personality.

"What are you talking about?" Michelle asked, worrying that Oscura was going to turn her over to Victor. Had she seen her deliberately lead them to the warehouse? Had she followed her and witnessed her actions?

Oscura turned her back to Michelle and began to walk away. But she did answer Michelle's question. "That darn Moynihan forced me to reveal the location. I was just about to relay the information to Victor." She turned her head a little to give Michelle a sideways glance. "Did you want to accompany me?"

Gulping, but not wanting to give herself away, Michelle nodded once. "Okay." With that, the two girls disappeared down the corridor to find Victor and tell him of the news. They both knew that Victor wasn't going to like it. Michelle was the only one worried though. Oscura wouldn't really care how the man reacted. She would just comment, behind his back, that he looked cute. She sometimes wished she were a little older. She thought she and Victor would make a cute couple.

The warehouse looked a lot bigger on the inside than it did on the outside. There were so many paths. It was hard to believe this was to be a Super Walmart at one point. But then again, Victor had purchased the building. Perhaps he had put up the walls and such. No, he wouldn't do that. He would hire people to do it for him. There many different signs put up everywhere. They were mostly warning signs about trespassing and the penalties of doing such a thing. There would be warnings of weaponry, but Victor had known that putting up such signs would get him unwanted attention.

It took about five minutes for Michelle and Oscura to reach another hallway that would lead to where Victor had Caruso. Throughout it all, neither of them had spoken a word. There was an eerie silence that hung in the air. The only sounds they could really hear were the faint screams that were obviously coming from Caruso in Stegosaurus mode. They could also hear the sound of him slamming against the ground. Michelle winced as she heard this, but hid it from Oscura. She decided to try to start up a conversation.

"So what happened to you?" Michelle asked, wanting to break the silence. She needed something to distract herself from the screaming. It was making her grow uneasy with every step. "Just how did Moynihan defeat you? And how come you weren't able to take down the other two Dino Squad members?" Losing wasn't something Oscura liked, and she knew this was going to be a touchy subject. She mentally prepared herself for what Oscura was going to tell her.

Oscura clenched a fist and gritted her teeth. But she stopped herself from slapping Michelle for asking such a question. "I'd rather not discuss it." She hissed through clenched teeth as the two teens continued to walk forward. It wasn't just because she was angry she lost. It was also very embarrassed about the whole ordeal. To be defeated by tickling of all things? Michelle would never let her live it down.

"Well gee, sorry." Michelle growled softly, rolling her eyes. "You don't need to get all nippy about it. You're such a..." She stopped when Oscura gripped her neck tightly. She gagged a little at how tight the other girl was gripping her. She stopped struggling and looked at Oscura, eyes slightly wide but showing no real signs of fear. The two had immediately stopped walking.

"Watch your tongue." The black-haired teen warned. Her fingernails grew into sharp talons. Michelle could feel the prickling sensation of the claws against her skin. "Or I just might...slip." As she said that, she dug her claws a little more into her neck, nearly breaking the skin and drawing blood.

"My my...aren't you the grouchy one." Michelle said half heartedly as she tried to assert a more dominant position by gripping Oscura's hand tightly and pulling her hand away. She stifled a yelp as she felt the claws scratch her a little. She gripped Oscura's other hand and held it together with the other hand. Oscura pulled to try to get free. But Michelle held the hands firmly together, not letting Oscura to break free. "Calm down already!"

"I'll calm down when you let me go!" Oscura hissed, her eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Stop struggling and I will!" Michelle demanded. "As your leader, I.."

"Leader?!" Oscura spat venomously. "Since when were you my leader?! I told this before and I shall tell you again. You have no control over me! I listen to no one!" With one strong pull, she freed herself from Michelle's grip. She walked a few steps forward, glanced at Michelle with an icy glare, and continued on her way.

The brown-haired girl frowned. "And what of Victor? Don't you listen to him?" Michelle asked.

Without hesitation, Oscura whirled around to face the brunette. "That's different!"

"And now?" Michelle asked, folding her arms. "How is it any different? Is it because he's the leader of this entire organization." Oscura gave a single nod. "I don't think that is the reason you listen to him. Oh no. I can see it in your eyes. You could care less if he was the leader. You'd listen to him anyway. And you want to know why?" She walked forward and stood next to Oscura. The black-haired girl waited for her to respond. "It's because you have a crush on him."

"W-What?!" Oscura stammered a little, as if she were surprised.

"Why are you so surprised?" Michelle glanced over at the younger teenager. "It's very obvious. You've shown signs in the past that you like Victor. You cannot deny it, now can you?" When Oscura couldn't think of a response, Michelle gave a single nod. "I thought so."

Finally, after a few more seconds of silence, Oscura brought herself to say something. "Just shut up and let us warn Victor of the Dino Squad."

"Fiona!" Max rushed to his friend's side and knelt down. He grabbed her hand gently and helped her up off the ground. He could see a little blood on her mouth but other than that he couldn't see any real damage. But nonetheless he wanted to make sure she was all right. "You okay?"

As Fiona stumbled onto her feet, she shot a glare at Max, who flinched and took a step back. "I just slammed into a door of steel, Max!" She shouted angrily. "Of course I'm not okay!" She raised a hand to gingerly rub her nose and mouth where she could feel the most pain. She started to wonder if she was going to have a nosebleed soon. When she looked back at Max, she noticed he had a shamed look on his face and he had turned from her to absentmindedly look through the tiny window that was on the door. Giving off a small sigh, Fiona let her sudden anger melt away. "I'm sorry I yelled at you, Max."

Max gave a nod to signal that he forgave her, but he was still troubled. He lowered his gaze. "I don't know what's happening to us, Fiona. Some of us have gotten..bitter. Why? Is it because of what happened to Caruso?" He didn't wait for Fiona to answer before he continued. "Maybe it's fear. The fear of failure. Maybe that's why we're so edgy lately."

Fiona blinked in surprise at what Max just said. Well it wasn't what he said that surprised her. It was the way he said it. Max didn't normally talk in this manner. It sounded more like how a psychiatric would talk, not how a leader would sound. But she understood what he meant and agreed with him. "Yeah, it's probably that. I mean after the past failures of finding Caruso..." Her voice trailed off before she could finish. She couldn't bring herself to finish.

"You don't need to say it." Max assured her, sensing her hesitation.

Fiona nodded, and didn't say anymore. She went over to the door and, just as Max had before, looked inside it. It was very dark inside. The lights were probably out. She couldn't make out anything. She tried to find Michelle, but she had disappeared. Probably wandered further into the building, she assumed. It wouldn't do her any good though. She and Max would search this entire building until she'd have no choice but run back out into the open. There were only so many hiding places a one level building could provide before she'd quickly run out of options.

Max turned around as he heard faint voices in the distance. He placed his broad hand over his eyes to try to get a better look. He quickly recognized the approaching figures of the rest of the Dino Squad, minus Caruso of course. He could see Buzz and Rodger running towards them, panting quite heavily. Max smiled and walked towards them, along with Fiona, to greet them. Once they were close enough to each other, Buzz and Rodger stopped to take a breather. They placed their hands on their thighs and bent over, their heads lowered as they breathed heavily to try to catch their breath. It seemed they had run a good distance. This confused Max at first until he remembered that they were already running beforehand. Buzz and Rodger probably hadn't regained their strength yet from the earlier chase.

Before Max and Fiona could say anything, they saw someone else approaching. Using her cane to aide her, Moynihan walked up the hill. There was a slight limp, but it was not very apparent and it didn't slow her down much. Right beside her was Rump. The small white dog ran around her playfully, panting. He noticed the other children and bolted towards Max and Fiona. He circled around them happily before finally calming down in Fiona's arms, who had picked him up.

"Ms. Moynihan!" Max asked as he approached her. "Are you okay? Did that Troodon hurt you?" He felt guilty about having to leave her alone with that monster. If anything happened to her, he wouldn't forgive himself.

Ms. Moynihan shook her head. "No, I handled her quite all right by myself. I may be old, but I'm no pushover, dear boy." She said gently, smiling.

Having finally found his voice, Buzz said, "Ms. M got that Troodon to talk. She found out Caruso's being held in that warehouse!" He lifted a shaky finger to point at the large building where Max and Fiona had seen Michelle run inside.

Rodger nodded, finally catching his breath. "Ms. Moynihan says we should look inside."

"What?" Max asked as he turned to face the building. "He's in there? Are you sure?"

"Well," Moynihan said softly, "not entirely..."

"You're not sure?" Max asked, sounding a little bit surprised. "Then why do you want us to..." He tried to say, but was cut off.

"Dear, do you want to pass up the chance of possibly locating Caruso at last?" Joanne asked softly, making Max grow silent. "I know you children have been met with harsh disappointments recently, but what if we pass up this chance just because we think it might lead to another disappointment, we may never see Caruso again. Life is full of risks, Max."

"And didn't you teach us to avoid risks if at all possible?" Max asked.

Joanne nodded solemnly. "Yes. But I also taught you was that sometimes you must take a risk to get a worthwhile result. Sometimes you have to face the danger to save yourself and those that you love and care about."

As Moynihan told him this, a strange feeling started to well up inside of him. Max slowly realized that Moynihan was right. He glanced back at the warehouse, his eyes narrowed. What if that Troodon was speaking the truth? Could Caruso really be in there? But if they were wrong, the consequences could be huge. He frowned further as he thought about that. Oh the risks were enormous. He acknowledged that. They could lose their freedom, or even their very lives, if the Troodon's statement of Caruso being held in there was just a trick and the whole thing was a trap. But the only way they were going to find out was to go inside and have a look for themselves.

His thoughts were interrupted by Fiona, who had been just as skeptical as Max was a few moments ago. "But what if it's a trap?" This is what Max had feared as well. "If we get caught, then how will we save Caruso?"

Moynihan walked over to Fiona and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Rump lifted up his head and sniffed the hand a couple times before giving it a big wet lick. Moynihan chuckled and pulled her hand away. "Dear Fiona, it's worth a look, isn't it?"

"I suppose, but.." But Fiona was suddenly interrupted by a horrible sound that jolted everyone else into alertness.

OOOOOOAAAAAAAARAAAAAAAAA!

It was a scream, no a bellow, no wait, a mixture of the two. And they seemed to come from both the same place, and yet two different places. But how was this possible? As another scream and bellow rang out, it slowly dawned on Fiona what it was. The bellow was a vocalization, but the scream was through the thoughts. Both were filled with pain and agony. It didn't take her and the others long to realize just who it was.

"CARUSO!" They shouted in unison.

Another scream emitted from Caruso's mouth as he crashed into the ground, having been knocked back by the mutantsaur. He shook his head, quite surprised that the blind mole was that powerful. He bared his teeth weakly at it and, upon Victor's orders, charged at the mutantsaur again. The mutantsaur took a few sniffs and growled softly. It turned to its side and struck Caruso with its tail. Despite having no club, it was still strong enough to knock a full grown Stegosaurus back a few feet. Once again climbing up onto his feet, Caruso wondered how this creature could be strong enough to do that. Just what had Victor put into it?

Shrugging it off, he went in for another attack. This time he grew wise to the mole's turning behavior and immediately veered off to the left when it did that. Now face to face with the mole, Caruso managed to bite down onto the mole's neck. Despite the searing pain surging through his gums and tongue, he lifted up the mole mutant and, with a jerk of the neck, he tossed the mutantsaur away. The mole mutant crashed into the ground, but quickly regained its footing. It snarled viciously at Caruso and charged towards him.

Just how much more abuse could this mole get? Caruso was sure it would have been deterred by now. They've been going at it for what felt like hours, though in reality it was just about twenty to thirty minutes. This wasn't the first time he'd grabbed the creature by the neck. Caruso didn't really know why he even did that at first. He had never done something that violent to another living creature. He licked his teeth carefully, tasting the blood on them. But it wasn't his blood. It was the creature's. He closed his eyes for a brief moment. What was he becoming? Since this battle started, he had started to become more and more aggressive. It wasn't anything dramatic. It was a steady increase. The longer he fought, the more apparent the changes were becoming.

He eyed the mole mutant as it started to circle at him, staring at him with that eyeless face. Was it this mole that was making him start to act so strangely, so differently? He narrowed his eyes and growled softly, feeling the adrenaline rise up inside of him. The mole seemed ready to fight. It lunged at Caruso. Bellowing loudly, Caruso reared up onto his hind legs and slammed back down. He caught the mole by its back. The heavy dinosaur slammed the mole into the ground. There was a few cracks where Caruso's weigh broke the ribs of the mole. The mole screeched loudly in pain and tried to get back up only to fall back down.

A strange urge started to overcome him. He could feel it burning inside, coursing through his veins. It was like his human mind was being sucked away and only a bloodthirsty monster remained behind. He shook his head several times, trying to snap back to his senses. But each jerk of the head only increased this feeling. His eyes opened wide as his vision seemed to change. He stopped registering certain information as if his brain stopped caring about them. And his eyes started to focus more on the creature that stood before him. He was starting to feel more like a predator, and no matter how hard his human mind tried to regain control, he just wasn't able to stop this urge that was growing inside of him.

Caruso's eyes glowed. He didn't notice it, but they were now of a different shade. They started to take on a more orange color rather than the gold-yellow that they usually were. He stared at the mole in a rather strange way. It was almost as if he was hungry and this was his meal even though he was an herbivore. He took a step towards the injured mole and then hesitated. He turned his head towards Victor as if he was looking for direction. Victor gave a single nod. Caruso turned his attention back towards the mole. Without hesitation, he bit down onto the mole's neck. The creature struggled frantically as Caruso twisted the neck. There was a loud snap, and the creature become limp. It was over.

Victor folded his arms as he watched this. He was both impressed and disappointed at the same time. The mole wasn't strong enough to withstand attacks from a Stegosaurus, although it did prove to be a determined fighter and didn't back down despite being constantly knocked away. But this experiment did yield some interesting results. After exposing Caruso to the chemical, he had noticed what he was hoping for: an increased aggression. He still need to perfect this formula though. Or maybe he just need to add larger doses for a more desired effect.

Caruso's eyes suddenly changed back into the normal gold-yellow. He tasted fur, blood, and flesh in his mouth. He slowly gazed down and saw that he was holding a dead mutant in his jaws. Eyes widening in horror, he quickly let go and took several steps back. He gazed at the dead animal that lay before him. The head and neck were bent too far in an odd angle. The jaws were wide open as if it were screaming in pain. If it had eyes, they would be bulging wide with pain. Caruso started to shake a little. 'What did I just do..?' He asked himself, taking one more step back, trying to settle himself down.

"You've made your first kill." Victor said callously. When he noticed Caruso shaking, he frowned slightly. "Oh get over it! It's just one dead body! I've seen hundreds of them. They're hardly something to get worked up over." He said as if it were nothing. Of course he wouldn't be affected by it. He was a Velociraptor.

'But..but I'm not a carnivore..' Caruso stammered, feeling sick as he could taste the animal's blood in his mouth. He would try to spit it out, but the bridle made it too painful. As much as it sickened him, he had no choice but to swallow the blood. He shuddered as he did so, and silently wished for some water to get rid of the horrible taste in his mouth.

"What's the matter, little Caruso?" Victor sneered as he walked over to Caruso and placed his hand on the boy's dinosaur head. "Can't handle a little blood?" He chuckled as he patted the boy's head a few times. He turned and walked away.

Caruso whirled his head to face Victor. 'My mouth is full of my own blood, you...!' Caruso had suddenly felt that same urge he had previously. It was short lived though, and when it went away, he stopped his sentence before he could finish the last few words. It was lucky for him that he did. Otherwise, Victor would hurt him again. He immediately averted eye contact from Victor and lowered his head in submission.

Victor turned his head, the faintest hint of a smile on his face. "You were lucky you stopped yourself when you did. Because one more disrespectful word out of you, and I would have.."

'What?' Caruso asked in an emotionless way. 'Shock me?'

Victor chuckled, holding up a finger. "Oh no. I had something else in mind." He turned around so his back was facing Caruso. He held his hands together, tapping each fingertip with another in a scheming way. "It would be a shame if something happened to your friends."

Caruso's eyes widened in horror. 'What do you plan on doing to them?'

"It's not what I'm going to do to them." Victor turned to face Caruso. He pointed an accusing finger at the blue-purple Stegosaurus. "It's what YOU are going to to do to them."

'What?!' Caruso took a step back, shaking his head in denial. 'Why would I want to hurt them?'

Victor opened up his mouth to respond, but was abruptly cut short from a shout from behind him. "VICTOR!" Victor tensed up at the volume of the scream. Caruso tried to his best not to smirk or chuckle. Victor rubbed one of his ears before turning towards the door, which had been closed when Victor released the mole mutantsaur for Caruso to do battle with. He could hear someone pounding on the other side. No, there were two people. Only one was pounding on the door. He groaned. He knew who it had to be. Only one of his minions acted like this.

Placing a hand on the door and leaning forward slightly, Victor said in an annoyed voice, "What is it? Can't you see I'm busy?!"

"But Victor!" Came the voice. "I need to talk to you! It's urgent! It's about the Dino Squad! They're here!"

Both Victor and Caruso widened their eyes, but for completely different reasons. For Caruso, it gave him a newfound reason to hope. A smile started to stretch across his cut up mouth. So they really were searching for him after all. He didn't know how they did it, but he felt relieved that his friends were finally able to find him. Now maybe the nightmare was going to be over. 'My friends...' He said softly. 'They've come for me...'

But Victor on the other hand wasn't quite as pleased. Even though he was silent at first, it was obvious he was angry. He was starting to shake, furiously clenching a fist and pounding it on the door. The Dino Squad weren't supposed to find this hideout! While Caruso's statement only increased his anger, he decided not to take it out on him. After all, he couldn't see why it would be Caruso's fault the Dino Squad found this particular hideout. He pushed the door open furiously, slamming it against the wall of the hallway. Oscura and Michelle, who were on the other side, both yelped in surprise and took a step back. "HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?!" He screamed at them. "YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO CAPTURE THEM!"

"Yes I know!" Oscura was the first to recover from the initial shock. "I tried my best!"

"And so did I!" Michelle interjected. "They were more formidable than I thought!"

"What are you talking about?! They're only humans!" Victor hissed. He couldn't believe these two could mess up this task. The Dino Squad were separated were they not? That's what his scouts had told him. "And they were apart! How could you have lost?!"

Oscura wrinkled her nose in a disgusted way. "Well it wasn't my fault!" She yelled back. "I almost had two of them! They weren't so tough! I would have had them too if it weren't for Moynihan!"

"MOYNIHAN?!" Victor roared, causing the two girls before him to back away. Michelle cringed but Oscura remained standing up straight. "MOYNIHAN IS HERE?!" The room became silent.

While Victor was hoping to get an encounter with Moynihan, this is not how he had envisioned it. This is not how he wanted it to happen. He was hoping to catch her alone and do what he wanted with her. He never would have expected her to come here, and with the remaining Dino Squad at that. The last he checked, Moynihan's ankle was too hurt to walk on, let alone travel all the way over here. Come to think of it, just how did she get here at all? She wasn't spotted by any of his scouts. Humans... He hissed softly. They never were all that reliable. They were so irresponsible. He would need to get better scouts. Dinosaurs would do a much better job than humans. Heck, they can do anything better than a human.

He glanced at Caruso and narrowed his eyes. It seemed he probably wouldn't get a chance to finish his experiments with him. He wanted to say something to the boy, but he stopped himself. He once again reminded himself that getting angry at Caruso would be fruitless. Caruso had nothing to do with this. He turned back to Michelle and Oscura. He was very disappointed in their performance. They were able to handle the Dino Squad just fine in their last fight. So what went wrong now?

Oh well, he thought. There was no use crying over spilled milk. There was nothing he could do to change it. The question was how can he make use of this new turn of events? He frowned a little more as he went into deep thought. He already had the boy, and now he had Moynihan and the four other 'perfect dinosaurs' possibly inside the building at this very moment. He would have to come up with a new plan and fast. It was highly unlikely he could do anything to Moynihan without the others protecting her and ruining that plan. And he had his doubts he'll be able to use Caruso. It takes a while for the chemical to take effect. There wouldn't be enough time. By the time the chemical would take effect, it would be too late. The Dino Squad would have prepared themselves.

What was he going to do now? He was becoming a bit frustrated. But he had to remain calm. He was a clever Velociraptor. He'd come up with the solution sooner or later. He glanced back at Caruso. He wondered if he should allow the Dino Squad to find him and then ambush them then. No..that wouldn't work. None of his men are competent enough to handle five dinosaurs, and he doubt Michelle and Oscura would be able to handle the job, not after how they failed with their initial objective. Should he send out some of his men to drive the dinosaurs into a single location? No. If they couldn't handle a simple task like infecting domestic animals with ooze, then how could they possibly carry out a more extreme task like this? Victor closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead as he tried his best to calm down.

Sensing Victor's frustration, Oscura took a step towards him. "What are you so worried about?" She asked without thinking about it. "So they're all here. What's the big deal?"

Michelle elbowed her harshly. "Shh! Do you want to aggravate him further?" She whispered to Oscura.

"So what?" Oscura shrugged her shoulders. "It's not like this can't be easily worked into his favor..." She stopped when she felt a strong, scaly hand grip her throat. She grunted in pain and struggled a little as she felt herself being lifted off the ground and towards Victor.

"It can be worked into my favor?" Victor asked.

"..Y-Yes.." Oscura managed to say.

Victor released his grip on her and folded his arms. "Explain." He demanded. He wondered what Oscura had in mind. Despite the way he was acting, he was feeling rather enthusiastic about hearing one of her plans. He admitted that, at times, Oscura could be more cunning than he was. That was an attribute he rarely saw in humans.

Oscura didn't respond right away. She rubbed her throat gently in the area Victor had squeezed her. She didn't understand why he felt the need to do that. But still, why should she care? She'd do the same thing to someone else if given the chance. She eyed Michelle for a brief second, silently wishing she could do something to her. If it weren't for these fighting restraints...

"Certainly." Oscura said when she heard Victor growl at her to get her to talk to him. "Well you got Caruso, right?" A nod from Victor. "And you are a predator, right?" Another nod from Victor. "Well the answer is quite obvious. Use him as bait. Knock him out and put him somewhere where the Dino Squad would find him and catch them that way. And if you're worried about doing this fast enough, I've a solution for that. Calls. Hunters use them to lure big game like deer into a certain spot. You have recorded some audio clips of Caruso haven't you?"

Victor nodded his head once. "As well as visual clips for study. Why?"

Oscura smirked. "Perfect... You could use those to lure the Dino Squad anywhere you want to. You could make them go off course, or lead them towards Caruso when you are ready for them. They're so weak-minded. They'll easily fall for it, especially since it concerns their precious little friend here." She grinned evilly at Caruso. Caruso's eyes widened and cringed at Oscura's cold stare, and Oscura smiled as she watched him shiver.

Victor narrowed his eyes and thought about it. Oscura's idea did seem plausible, and it did entice the predator side to him. He had, after all, used a similar tactic back in the glory days of the dinosaurs. But it brought back unwanted memories of Moynihan. She'd been the one to teach him that trick after all. And yet he didn't want to completely dismiss Oscura's idea. Luring them to different parts of the warehouse with Caruso's torture clips, why hadn't he thought of that before? But there was still a problem. How was he to be sure that they wouldn't see through the trap? And if they got to Caruso, would he be ready to capture them? No, there had to be something else he could use this plan for. Then the idea struck him.

Victor glanced towards Caruso, a conniving smile on his face. The boy didn't like the way he was being looked at and started to back up. 'No... no.. please no..' He begged. But Victor continued to walk towards him, backing the Stegosaurus up in a corner. Caruso's eyes widened as Victor transformed his hands and showed him his claws.

"What do you plan on doing, sir?" Michelle asked carefully, trying to hide the fact that she felt sorry for the kid.

"Setting up a trap for Joanne..." Victor replied. He gripped the rope that attached to Caruso's bridle and raised his other hand, claws glinting in the light. It was the last thing Caruso would see before a blinding pain overwhelmed him, more intense than any he's felt before...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

The scream echoed throughout the warehouse. It reverberated through the walls and anyone who was standing on the ground could feel the vibrations. The scream snapped many of Veloci's men into alertness. They cautiously looked around, but saw nothing. They stood there confused for a while, and then went back to work. The scream went unnoticed by no one, especially the Dino Squad, who were making their way down one of the corridors.

Upon hearing the scream, the Dino Squad stopped, standing stiff and rigid as the meaning of that scream started to sink in, especially Moynihan. Could they already be too late? Moynihan frowned softly. No they couldn't be too late. She had grown accustomed to death screams in her life as a Velociraptor and that wasn't what she heard. But the situation was still dire. She heard a whine behind her. Rump was trotting behind the Dino Squad, his ears lowered as if he knew something was wrong. Moynihan looked at him sympathetically. The poor little fellow didn't understand what was going on.

"What was that..?" Buzz asked, looking around nervously as he waited for the horrible scream to come back. He had a feeling of what it was, but was too afraid to admit it. And what if that was a trap set up by Victor?

"That was Caruso!" Fiona shouted, sounding horrified. "He's in pain! We've got to find him!"

"But what if it's a trap?" Rodger asked, just as nervous as Buzz was.

"But what if it's not?" Fiona asked, sounding determined.

"What if it is?" Rodger asked again. "If it's a trap, do you really want to wander all the way over just to..."

"Enough you two." Moynihan stepped between the two, giving them both a disapproving look. "Now isn't the time for you two to be fighting. There are more urgent things at hand, don't you know?"

Rodger and Fiona lowered their heads. "We're sorry, Ms. M."

It was difficult for Max to watch this. This was not how they were supposed to be. In the past, they were able to work together without problem. He couldn't recall a large number of times when they continued to argue with one another when a more important objective was at hand. Now it seemed like they all had their own ideas on what to do. They didn't seem like they were all on the right page. And even the presence of Moynihan didn't help ease the tension that had formed in the group. Whatever happened to the team?

Because he was the leader, Max felt responsible. He hadn't tried hard enough to keep the remaining team together. And he couldn't help but feel this entire incident was all his fault. He had lost his temper with Caruso. And he was supposed to be the leader too! What kind of leader would allow his emotions to take over? Maybe he didn't deserve to be leader... No! He couldn't think like that! The others needed him! They still turn to him for his leadership. And wasn't it the leader's job to always keep an optimistic outlook?

But his thoughts went back to the last time he saw Caruso. He hadn't done a very good job keeping an optimistic outlook then, now had he? No, he made the situation worse. He closed his eyes tightly and strongly wished that he could undo what he'd already done.

Fiona noticed Max's distress and gently nudged him. When he opened his eyes and looked at her, she gave him a concerned look. "Hey Max? Are you okay?"

Max nodded his head and said, "Yes, I'm okay."

Fiona narrowed her eyes slightly. She had a hard time believing him. He certainly wasn't acting like he was okay just a few moments before. Why was he lying to her? Wasn't he the one who had told Caruso, back when he wanted to audition that television show, how lying would only get him in trouble? She remembered what he had said about the tangled web. It bothered Fiona to think that Caruso would be so insecure at the time that he would lie to them. And now that same uncomfortable feeling was coming back because now Max was lying to her.

"Max...please don't lie to me." Joanne asked him calmly.

"I'm not..." Max started to say but stopped himself as he looked around the room. Not only was Fiona staring at him suspiciously, everyone else was as well. They all either had a slight frown on their face or a sympathetic look, as if they understood why he felt the need to fib.

"We're your friends, remember?" Rodger said. "You don't need to lie to us."

"I know." Max said. "It's just..." But before he could finish his sentence, he was caught off guard by another loud scream. This one sounded much closer and much more urgent than the last one. Max could feel his heart start to race. "Caruso!"

Then another scream came, even closer than the last one. But what was scaring the Dino Squad the most was that the screams seem to be coming from everywhere. They couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from. The screams were echoing off the walls several times, masking their general origin. They looked swiftly from left to right, trying to find some hint on where they should go, but had no luck in deciding.

"This isn't fair!" Buzz complained, glaring as he looked in several directions, trying to find a path to take. "Where are we supposed to go?"

"Victor designed this place to be like a maze, it seems." Moynihan said thoughtfully. "I had suspected as much. He must have known that there was a slight chance that an enemy would find this place." This didn't surprise her too much. Victor was rather cunning and had pulled this kind of thing before with prey, leading them into a twisted maze consisting of rock and trees. The prey wouldn't know where to go, but Victor had studied that area from top to bottom and knew the best places for ambush.

"So do you know which way to go?" Rodger asked hopefully.

Moynihan shook her head. "I'm afraid not. I've never been here before. Your guess is as good as mine."

"Great, so basically we're like mice trapped in a maze, huh?" Buzz said dishearteningly. "We could wander in here for days and never..." He managed to stop himself before he depressed the others.

Moynihan nodded her head solemnly. After that, the group couldn't bring themselves to continue searching for fear they'll choose the wrong path. The hallway because silent as the group looked at each other, trying to find words to say but only drawing a blank. The path they were in now split off at two ways. Both new paths looked identical save for the one on the left that had a blinking light bulb hanging somewhere in the hallway. But only one path would lead them to Caruso. And as the screams continued, they only grew more and more confused as to where the source was coming from.

What a rather frustrating time for them, Max thought. He looked around and thought briefly why the alarms hadn't gone off. Michelle knew they were here, so why hadn't she warned Victor of their presence? That didn't make a lot of sense. She worked for Victor and was loyal to him as was Oscura. What possible reason could she have for not reporting them to Victor right away? What motivation could she have to not sound the alarm? As he thought about this, he started to feel a little panicky. Any second he expected the security system to go off, set off by Michelle, and Victor's men bursting through all the doors to get them. And this time, they couldn't pretend they weren't the 'perfect dinosaurs' anymore. Victor knew the truth about them now, and surely so would his own men. But then again, not all of them were very bright.

But perhaps there was a reason why Michelle didn't sound the alarm. Perhaps she hadn't really forgotten. Perhaps she had planned this. Max's eyes widened. If Michelle had planned this, then that meant that...

The next few seconds happened so fast it was a blur to everyone else, but for Max it felt like it lasted several minutes. He heard a warning shout from Moynihan, and then a snarl, suddenly a loud screech. He turned to see the red Troodon, Oscura, dashing towards him at high speed. Eyes widened, Max quickly dodged out of the way. The Troodon had already leaped, her jaws wide open. As she neared him while he leaped himself, she snapped her jaws shut. Her teeth snagged on the bottom of his jacket. Max quickly delivered a kick to her dinosaur shin, causing her to cry out in pain, thus releasing him from her grasp. As Oscura fell onto the ground, her mouth, dripping with drool, remained wide open. Saliva sprayed across the air, most of it landing on the ground although a few drops got onto Max's jacket. As the two regained their footing, Max noticed the saliva, grimaced, and quickly wiped it off. All this had occurred in a matter of about five to six seconds.

Oscura shifted back into human form and stared at the group standing before her. She had one hand in her pocket. The Dino Squad had their ideas on what it could be, but right now their focus was on Oscura herself. They could worry about her little toy later. The initial reaction from the Dino Squad was shock. They weren't surprised to see her. No, they were expecting her. What shocked them was how she was able to sneak up on them like that in this building. Unlike the alleyway, there wasn't a lot of places to hide. But the shock quickly melted away to anger.

"Oscura..." Moynihan said angrily.

"Moynihan..." Oscura replied coolly.

"What are you doing here?" Fiona asked, seething as she remembered how Oscura toyed with her back in the alleyway.

Oscura laughed as she replied, "Well now, I could ask you the same question, Fiona."

Rodger took a step forward. "What do you want? Haven't you caused enough trouble already?"

Oscura grinned darkly. "No I haven't. Sorry." She said in a sarcastic way. However, before any one else could say something, Oscura held up a hand to silence them. "With all joking set aside, I was sent here to show you something." As she said that, she started to search her pocket for something.

"Don't bother with it." Buzz said, narrowing his eyes.

"Oh but you'll be quite interested in seeing what I have in here for you and your friends, Mr. Mohawk." Buzz growled at that name.

"There isn't anything you could show us that would interest us!" Max shouted, still angry with how she had treated Fiona earlier. All this monster was going to do was slow them down.

"Oh?" Oscura asked slyly as she pulled out what looked to be a small sphere. "Not even this?" She held it out to them. The sphere was black in color with a small red button that protruded from the top of the ball. She pressed the button down, and the ball hummed to life. There was a slight glow to it. "This is one of Victor's inventions, although it performs the same function as a common household item." She laughed as the Dino Squad braced themselves for an attack. "Relax, you idiots. It's not a weapon."

"Not unless you throw it at someone." Buzz said, half joking and half being serious.

Oscura narrowed her eyes, looking more serious than she usually does. "Don't be so smart."

The black sphere suddenly shot out a beam of light against the wall. It started to take the form of a rectangle. From there it grew in size. The light was radiating a golden yellow color. It continued to grow until the top and bottom of the rectangular light reached the floor and the ceiling of the hallway. Then another beam of light shot out, one that was more clear and at the same time streaming with colorful light. It overlapped the golden yellow rectangle light. Suddenly blurry images zipped past the screen. As the image slowly came into focus, it became quickly obvious what it was.

Oscura grinned, growling softly. "You still going to tell me this doesn't interest you?"

The images being displayed caused the Dino Squad's hearts to stop, filling their bodies with intense fear. Subconsciously they took a step back, wishing what they weren't seeing wasn't real. They wished it was just some sort of sick illusion in an attempt to break them. The images flashing across the wall were of their friend, Caruso. They were seeing much of the torment he had been through. They saw him being slammed back by the mole mutant. They saw him being attacked by Victor himself. They saw him suffering under the influence of the hideous human bridle. Fiona had to stifle a gasp when she saw several images of Caruso being electrocuted by the bridle. And the blood, there was so much blood, and so many injuries.

They could hear his screams of fear and pain as the scenes flashed by quickly. Watching him suffer on this was taking a toll on their hearts and minds. But they found it difficult to tear their eyes from the scenes. They saw how Caruso kept resisting Victor and paying the price for it, and how, in the end, he eventually broke. Moynihan could feel a tear try to escape as she saw the young teenager finally submit to Victor, looking so helpless on the ground. It angered her when Victor started to taunt him a little. She closed her eyes tightly. This reminded her so much of what happened about thirty years ago, when she and Victor split paths.

Max's eyes were wide with horror as he saw just what Caruso had been through while he was here with Victor. At first, his reaction was to shake his head in denial. This had to be some sort of trick. But the more he saw, the more he became convinced that it was reality. A dark voice in his head started to taunt him, telling him he got his wish. Caruso would probably never brag again. But he shook his head, telling himself this isn't what he wanted. This isn't how he wanted things to happen. He looked at the others. They were just as horrified as he was. But not just horrified. They were furious too, and so was he. They knew Victor was dangerous, that he would stoop low enough to kill. But they had no idea that he would be cruel enough to subject Caruso to excruciating pain for no reason.

"Caruso!" Fiona finally shouted, breaking the tense silence among the group. Oscura had shut off the sphere and was looking at the group smugly. Fiona locked eyes onto the raven-haired girl and growled. "What have you monsters done to him..?"

"But you've already seen what we've done to him." Oscura said, smirking. "It wasn't anything he didn't deserve."

"Why you...!" Fiona started to charge towards Oscura only to be held back by Max. "Let me go!" She shouted, struggling wildly in his grasp. "She was asking for it!"

"That's exactly what she wants us to do." Max said, trying to stay calm even though he was just as angry as Fiona was. "If we stoop to her level, then we would be no better than she was." With that, he looked up at Oscura and glared at her. Oh the things he wished he could do to her right now...

"You better listen to your leader." Oscura mocked, folding her arms. It was clear she didn't take Max too seriously as a leader. In fact she thought he was a joke, almost. She considered Victor an example of what a true leader should be like, someone who strikes fear in the hearts of his or her workers.

Max winced. The way she had said leader, it sounded more like an insult. He decided to ignore that comment and took a step forward. Trying to look as confident as he could, he asked, "Where are you hiding Caruso?" His voice had a slight menacing tone to it, even though he didn't think Oscura could be scared to do anything.

Buzz stepped forward now. "You want to make this harder on yourself?" He warned. "If you are looking for a fight..."

"You got one with us." Rodger finished, eyes narrowed.

"Now guys..." Max started to say, but was interrupted by Oscura's sudden outburst of laughter. It sounded so chilling it caused the group to shudder. They had never heard such a cold laugh, not even from Victor himself.

"Even if I were to tell you where your precious friend was," Oscura said, "There's a slim chance Caruso would even want to see you." When the group standing before her looked shocked, she grinned. "He believed you abandoned him. So he abandoned you."

Moynihan's eyes widened a little. Something sounded suspicious about that statement. It didn't seem like Caruso to just give up on them like that. And he certainly wouldn't just abandon all hopes of being rescued, would he? He had been with the Dino Squad long enough to know that, if he was in trouble, they would do anything to help him. Moynihan began to suspect that perhaps this was a trap of sorts. What would Oscura benefit from telling the Dino Squad this? There was one thing she could think of: breaking the fighting spirits. If the Dino Squad were too shocked at the thought of their friend giving up hope in them, they might not have the will to fight back. Her eyes widened a little further. They would be easy targets for Victor and his men.

"Don't listen to her!" Moynihan spoke up, catching the attention of the kids standing near her. Oscura cocked an eyebrow, wondering what the old woman was going to say. And she knew she wasn't the only one in this area who was wondering this. "She's lying! She's just trying to get you kids to lose your fighting spirit so that she and Victor can easily capture you! Don't listen to her!" Oscura narrowed her eyes. The woman had seen through her plan. Clever Velociraptor she was, but sooner or later, Oscura would know how to break even her.

"Too smart." Oscura said, slightly disgruntled. "Did you have to ruin the fun?"

"Fun?!" Moynihan snapped, turning her head quickly to stare at the insane teen. "You call this fun?"

Oscura chuckled and sneered. "Why, of course! What could be more fun than toying with others? Watching them suffer at my words, or even my hands. Nothing could be more joyful than that! Why do you think I joined Victor, you old woman?" Oscura transformed one of her hands and flexed the hand, looking at the way her talons hooked forward, smiling it satisfaction at their sharpness. "Compassion is such a weakness. Only the strong, brutal ones are meant to rule. Those who don't fall under this category are meant to be slaves to be used and abused, even killed. They have no place in this world other than in a cage or in chains." She gave the group an eerie look. "Your friend had two choices. He could have submitted honorably and he would have gotten better treatment. Who knows? He might have even converted and be saved. Or he could resist and suffer the consequences. Judging from what I had shown you, you know which path he took." She grinned evilly, her voice full of sadism and malicious intentions.

Clenching a shaking fist, Joanne Moynihan was slowly starting to lose control of her anger. The idea of anyone being like this was mind boggling to her, and it was horrific as well. She was right to believe that Oscura's rule would be even more dangerous than having Victor rule. She had been shown how cruel Victor could be, but she knew that Victor was not the type to go to the same extreme as what Oscura would be interested in.

Noticing Moynihan's anger, Oscura decided to further antagonize the old woman. "What's the matter? You can't handle the truth? Are you going to cry?" She asked in a mocking way, scratching her chin in an almost thoughtful way, yet at the same time it looked a bit threatening.

"Oh shut up, you...!" The next word that came out of Joanne's mouth shocked everyone in the room, but for different reasons. The word was foreign to human language. It was a word Moynihan had learned before the extinction event. She had been scolded in the past for using it. The Dino Squad didn't know that it meant exactly. But from the way she had used it, they knew it wouldn't have been pleasant. It felt a little scary for them to see Moynihan react this way. It just seemed so out of her character. But then, none of them had ever done anything that would have pushed her over the edge.

Oscura on the other hand jerked her head back in surprise. She knew full well what the strange word had meant. But she shook off her initial surprise and grinned from ear to ear. "Well well well... looks like the old woman still has some bite left in her." She teased.

"Don't mock me." Moynihan threatened. "I already defeated you once."

Oscura placed a hand on her chest and gave a weird look at Moynihan. "Defeated? Me? That's a laugh!" Oscura closed her eyes and chuckled for a few seconds. She slowly opened them up again and glared at Moynihan. "Tickling me to death is not a real defeat, you idiotic fool. I thought a Velociraptor would know that. I guess you really are as stupid as the humans you ally yourself with." At this remark, Moynihan snapped her head back, teeth bared slightly in an unsure manner.

Getting fed up with Oscura, Fiona slammed a fist into the palm of her hands. If this girl wanted a fight, she'd be happy to oblige. She's been hoping to get even with Oscura. And what better way than a rematch? "If it's a fight you're looking for, I'll be more than happy to volunteer."

"Oh really? I wouldn't mind a little...match with you, sweetheart. But let's hope you do better than the last time." Oscura laughed.

"You better hope, for your sake, that I don't do better!" Fiona threatened, trying to move forward to attack her but once again being held back by Max.

"Oooo..scary!" Oscura remarked sarcastically.

"You better be scared!" Fiona threatened, her eyes starting to glow. She wondered why Max wouldn't release her and let her go after Oscura. Was it because he was afraid she was going to get hurt? No, that couldn't be it. It didn't seem like him. He was probably hoping to get Oscura to lead them to Caruso. Fat chance, she thought. The only way she felt they were going to find Caruso was to search for him themselves. But she realized that if they did it that way, they risk running out of time. Perhaps it was best to get information straight from the horse's mouth. But then what if she lies to them?

Oscura laughed coldly. "I'm shaking in my shoes!" She wondered how long this interesting scene was going to last. How long would it take for one of them to actually strike her? She kept her eyes on Fiona. She made a silent bet in her mind that this is the girl who was going to attack first. She sneered, almost taunting Fiona to make a move against her.

"You better stop it, or I'll...!" Max threatened.

"Or you'll what, you incompetent leader?" Oscura glanced over at the jock. "You going to give me a timeout?" Max growled at her, but she just shrugged it off. "You're weak, just like Caruso."

"Oscura, THAT'S ENOUGH!" A voice rang out before anyone could react. Oscura looked over to see who it was. When she got enough visual information, she hissed softly in anger and disappointment. The figure ignored this and simply walked forward. Most of their body was concealed in the shadows. But the voice alone revealed who it was.

"It's you..." Oscura growled angrily. Just great, she thought. She has arrived. Of all the times for her to arrive, it had to be now, didn't it?

The figure stepped out into the light and almost instantly the Dino Squad reacted, tensing up. It was Michelle. The brunette didn't make a threatening move towards them. She seemed focused on her partner, Oscura. She walked towards her without setting eyes on the other people in the hallway. Except for Moynihan and Max, they took a defensive stance. They didn't care if she wasn't making a move towards them. They knew what happened the last time when Michelle and Oscura were in the same area together. The worst affected was Buzz. He was shaking visibly with rage when he set eyes on the curly haired girl walking in front of them. It was taking all his will power to not rush forward and slash at her.

He silently wished he never participated in the online game with her. He should have just turned the game off. He should have just allowed Caruso to get on the computer after him. He shouldn't have gotten that extra time playing that game. What further aggravated him is that he had fallen for a similar trap not very long ago, when Rodger had first set up the online game. He had thought he met a new online friend, but it was only Victor Veloci. Buzz couldn't believe just how foolish he was. He couldn't see the warning signs. He eventually disregarded the safety rules and revealed what state he lived in. But how was he to know that Victor would be able to lure him out with that information?

He had been tricked into going into an empty house. He didn't know if anyone actually lived there, or even how Victor knew of it. Perhaps he had been there before. Maybe it was his private quarters or something. No, that couldn't be it. Victor's headquarters was back in Boston. Why in the world would he have a place of solitude that far away from his workplace? And on that subject, why should he even care? Buzz didn't have fond feelings of that house because Victor had nearly trapped him inside. He had managed to escape, but he was driven into a shed and eventually flushed out when Victor used his feet to destroy it. Buzz was captured not long after that point and nearly became Victor's guinea pig in his experiments. Luckily, his friends showed up and freed him.

Buzz was paranoid that Victor had seen him transform or at least sensed it. After that, he thought they were going to see increased attacks from Victor. He thought he was going to search throughout the entire state of Maine. If Victor had found out they were humans, he would have changed his strategy in trying to find his 'perfect dinosaurs'. He might have come out with a new chemical that would expose them for what they are. And if he knew they were human, he would bring out more sophisticated traps that could easily capture them. This never happened afterward, Buzz had breathed a sigh of relief.

But he couldn't do that anymore. Victor knew now they were humans. He had gone to their lighthouse with Michelle and Oscura and managed to take Caruso away from them. Even though he and his two dinosaur minions were outnumbered, they had defeated them. They had succeeded while the Dino Squad had failed. Buzz felt a pang of guilt as he remembered how he had gotten a hold of Caruso and tried to save him with the aide of the others and then Victor showed up and slashed his legs. Buzz winced, still feeling the pain from when the sickle claw made contact with his skin and flesh.

Buzz stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He immediately stopped shaking and looked over to see who it was. "What do you want, Max?" He asked half-heartedly.

"Are you all right?" Max asked.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Buzz answered.

"You were shaking." Max told him. "Is something wrong?"

Buzz looked away, not sure if he should answer. He hadn't really answered Rodger when he had asked him the same thing. He wondered if he should respond the same way as he had with Rodger or if he should give an answer this time. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Rodger approach Max and pull Max a little aways from him.

"He had done this before." Rodger said. "He wouldn't tell me what the problem was. I suggest not pressuring him."

Max looked back at Buzz. "Buzz..." He started, but stopped himself. "I'm sorry."

"It's all right." Buzz looked up. He sighed softly. "I suppose I should tell you. You see..." He stopped, unsure of exactly how to say what he wanted to say. He was having a difficult time wording it. He groaned in frustration as he had a harder and harder time to bring himself to continue. Just how was he going to tell them?

He found relief and disappointment when Moynihan stepped in. "Buzz, you do not have to tell us now if you don't want to." She offered a gentle smile.

Buzz smiled back. "I know. But, Ms. M, I do want to tell you guys. It's just..I can't think of how to word it."

"Then wait. The words will come to you eventually." Moynihan said.

"Well well well..." The moment was suddenly interrupted as Oscura spoke up. She placed her hands on her hips and gave a creepy smile. "Isn't this such a sweet moment?" She said in a disgusted manner, as if the very idea of affection was foreign and strange to her. "How pathetic." She wrinkled her nose and snarled, partially baring her teeth. She instantly received a slap on the head. "Ow! What did you do that for?" She asked angrily, looking towards Michelle.

Michelle's arm remained raised, motioned to strike the dark-haired teeth again if she said anything else stupid or uncalled for. She was told to leave the building. Victor had told her that Oscura was going to handle things. But Michelle knew the girl would only cause trouble, so she hung back and followed Oscura as she snuck up on the group. She felt strange doing this, defending her own enemy after they had cornered her back in the alleyway and chased her here. Although the chase sequence was her idea and she had deliberately caused it to happen. "For being a fool!" She said, answering her partner's question.

"Excuse me? Foolish? They're the ones who are foolish!" Oscura pointed an accusing finger at the group. "To get worked up over nothing..." Okay so it wasn't nothing. They were worried about Caruso. She knew that. But to allow their feelings to get the better of them, she saw that as weakness. "They are getting angry just because their friend is in trouble."

Michelle narrowed her eyes dangerously. "Do not mock the enemy." She warned. "It will not work."

"Why would I need mockery to work?" Oscura chuckled darkly. "They're weak enough as it is, crying over one lost little friend!"

Sensing the tension from the Dino Squad at that insult, Michelle struck Oscura again to get her to shut up before she could say anything else. "They are not weak!" She yelled at her partner. She gripped Oscura's arm and pulled the girl towards her. "Valuing life is not weakness!" She pressed her forehead against Oscura's. She was so close that Oscura looked like nothing more than a blur, her eyes no longer able to focus on a single face. "And disregarding it is not strength!" She backed up and let go of Oscura, who just looked at her as if she couldn't believe she had said those things.

Oscura gently rubbed the small reddish area on her cheek where Michelle had slapped her. "You're just as weak as they are."

"I'll show you weak." Michelle raised her arm again, and this time Oscura backed up. This was probably the first time Michelle could recall seeing Oscura react in what was probably genuine fear of her. She immediately lowered her arm, feeling somewhat satisfied. "Why don't you leave?" She suggested. "I'll take things from here. It is clear you are too violent for this task."

"Oh, but can't I tease them some more?" Oscura asked in a tone that was a mix between pleading and mocking.

Michelle shook her head. "No..."

Oscura laughed. It was like she thought that statement was some funny joke. In her almost joyful laughter, she said, "You never let me have any fun!" Her laugher died down to chuckling, and then calmed down to soft chortling. When she finally stopped, she folded her arms and glared at Michelle, a look of disappointment and disapproval on her face. "Seriously..." She said. "You never do..."

Michelle rolled her eyes. Oscura was pouting like a little child. Just goes to show that some people might mature physically, but they do not mature mentally. Oscura was a prime example of that immaturity. "Oh cry me a river." She said mockingly. "You have your fun with me all the time." She winced as she said that. Taken out of context, that would be the most disturbing thing she ever said to Oscura.

"Hmmph!" Oscura snorted and turned her back to Michelle. "I'll comply..this time. But only because I have more important things to do anyway." She turned her head towards Michelle. "But mark my words, Michelle. I'll get back at you for this."

"Bring it..." Michelle threatened as she watched Oscura disappear into the darkness. When Oscura was out of sight, her expression immediately softened and she turned her head towards the Dino Squad members. She knew she wasn't a welcome sight for them, but she somewhat believed that they would feel more comfortable with her than Oscura. After all, she was the least violent of the two.

"We meet again." Michelle said, trying to start up some sort of conversation, although she knew it was not going to be a pleasant one. "Why are you here? Don't you know it's dangerous?"

"Save your lame attempts!" Buzz was the first one to speak up. He pointed an accusing finger at Michelle. "We aren't going to fall for them!"

"Fall for what?" Michelle asked innocently, smirking softly.

"Don't give me that look! You know what I'm talking about!" Buzz growled. He started to jab the finger he was pointing at Michelle in the air aggressively, as if he felt she didn't get his point the first time around.

Michelle flinched a bit, but remained standing where she was. This was going to prove a bit more difficult than she originally thought. But she would beat herself up if she expected them to accept her help right away. She would have been such a fool. She shifted her gaze across the room, catching glances from each person in the hallway. All of them had frowns on their faces. They were all staring at her. She felt a little nervous, but didn't allow it to overtake her."Oh I know what you're talking about." Michelle kept a straight face, holding her head high almost to mock him. "The question is, do you really know what you are talking about? Or is your brain as narrow as your mohawk?"

"You little lying creep!" Buzz raised an arm to punch Michelle. "How dare you!"

This time, no one stepped in to stop him. Either they wanted to see her get hurt or they were afraid to step in this time. Michelle suspected it was a mixture of both. More likely, they probably just wanted to see her suffer a little for her actions. The fist came lightning fast, but she moved with ease out of the way. Buzz's fist made contact with the cold hard wall. His eyes widened and he yelped in pain, pulling his hand back. As he shook it a few times, he looked up to see another fist. Michelle punched him in the throat. He gagged as he fell back on to the ground. Immediately Max and Rodger knelt down, looking concerned as they gripped each arm.

"Buzz!" Rodger cried.

"Ooh..." Buzz groaned in pain.

"Are you all right?" Max asked. He and Rodger gently pulled Buzz up to his feet, letting him use their bodies to support his weight.

Buzz glared at him as he yanked his arms from him and Rodger. "Of course I'm fine!" He seethed deep breaths through his teeth as he shifted his gaze towards Michelle. "But I know someone who won't be for very long..." He rubbed his jaw where Michelle had punched him, which had already started to bruise up a bit and become sore.

Michelle looked at Buzz in shock, as if she hadn't meant to strike him that hard. She took one look at her fist, then back at Buzz. Slowly she lowered her arm. She turned her back to them, something that may prove a mistake very quickly, and said, "Look, I don't have time to play with you right now." She gave them a sideways glance. "If I were you, I'd get out of here before Victor arrives. Just go back the way you came." Michelle started to walk away.

"No! We came here to free Caruso and we won't leave until we have him!" Max exclaimed.

Michelle stopped in her tracks. Her eyes widened a bit, and she looked back at Max. "So you are willing to risk getting captured all for one person?"

"Well yes! That's what friends do!" Max told her in a partially confused tone. Why should his statement have confused her?

"But you probably don't understand, do you?" She heard Buzz say coldly. "You probably don't have any friends."

Michelle widened her eyes and gasped silently at that statement. The hallway became completely silent except for the sounds of heavy breathing from herself and the soft breathing from the others around her. She took a couple steps back as if that one statement had inflicted some physical damage to her, had weakened her. But what would Buzz know? He doesn't know anything about her social life! She narrowed her eyes dangerously. How dare he make a judgment on her like that! How dare he question her ability to know what a friendship is!


	10. Risk

Michelle's lips curled back into a snarl. "You worthless, pathetic, idiotic, foolish brat!" She hissed as she started to advance towards Buzz. She held up a hand, the talons peaking through, glinting menacingly. "You don't know anything about me!" The claws from her other hand appeared as well. If she were a cat, her hair on the back of her neck would be standing on end.

The Dino Squad took a few steps back except for Buzz, who remained where he was, the claws on his hands unsheathing as well. He growled softly as he walked towards Michelle. The two teenagers locked eyes on one another. Buzz was determined to win this fight, if a fight should come. He was not going to allow Michelle to get the upper hand. He remembered how he was able to beat her in the online game. If he could do it there, why not in the real world? Because he didn't utilize the tricks he pulled in the game, that's why. If he could utilize them now, maybe he'd have a chance.

The teenagers, teeth bared and eyes glowing, began to circle each other like two lions ready to duel with one another. The Dino Squad took a few more steps back to give them fighting room. They dare not intervene. They knew this was Buzz's fight and that he wanted to fight alone. Michelle lowered her head and hissed, trying to intimidate Buzz. But the punk kid wasn't falling for it. In response, he opened up his arms, the wing membrane quickly growing to full length. He was making himself appear larger and more menacing. Eyes widened, Michelle gasped and took a step back. But she quickly recovered and proceeded to circle Buzz like a predator, and he did likewise.

Watching this unfold nervously, Fiona looked to Moynihan for reassurance. "Do you think he'll stand a chance? He was beaten last time..."

Moynihan placed a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. "If he believes he can win, he will." But she, herself, was wondering the same thing. Would Buzz win the fight this time? Only time will tell. The battle was about to start.

Baring their teeth at one another, the two teens suddenly leaped at each other. Bringing their arms forward and jaws opening wide, they clashed into each other, slashing at each other, dodging the other's blows. Michelle didn't know why she was doing this. This isn't what she wanted. But what could she do? She felt provoked and her dinosaur side accepted the challenge. She felt a little jealous of these kids. They seemed to have more control over their dinosaur form while she and Oscura had all but succumbed to some of the dinosaurian instincts. Her eyes widened as Buzz attempted to bite her arm. She dodged out of the way and then shoved him in the back when she got the chance.

Buzz slammed into the ground, down but not out. He immediately jumped back onto his feat and charged at Michelle, this time making his target. He grabbed onto her and pulled her onto the ground and pinned her. Michelle kicked her legs wildly, desperately trying to kick him in the stomach. Buzz gripped both her arms and held them firmly in place. He lowered his head so that his face was very close to hers. Michelle struggled for several more seconds before pausing, the two of them breathing heavily.

"It didn't have to be like this, you know." Michelle said, trying to get Buzz off of her, desperately kicking at the air. "If you had just submitted to us earlier, you would have been taken somewhere and you would have gotten your friend back when..."

"When what?!" Buzz grabbed Michelle by the front of her shirt and lifted her up and then slammed her into the ground. Michelle's eyes closed tightly as she grunted painfully. "When your leader is through putting him through so much pain and torture?!" He slammed her into the ground again, visibly shaking in anger.

The Dino Squad watched on in horror. They weren't horrified by what was happening to Michelle exactly. It was the way Buzz was acting. He'd never acted this violent before. But then he had never been given a reason to do so. Back when he was being taunted by the bullies, he was tempted to go dino, but he'd only wanted to scare them. They taunted him yes. They tried to get him to change yes. But they never threatened his life or the life of any of his friends.

Fiona took a step back so that Moynihan was now standing closer to the battle than she was. Her hand was to her mouth as she watched the battle unfold in front of her. "This isn't like him..." She said, not believing what she was seeing. "Not like him at all..."

Moynihan narrowed her eyes, thinking the same thing. She hadn't trained her students to behave like this. They had only wanted to get information. And this wasn't the way to do it. Frowning in disappointment, she stepped forward, placing a hand on Rodger's shoulder and gently pushing him aside. "Buzz! Stop it! We must not waste time fighting!"

Buzz lifted up his head and stared at his mentor. "But, Professor Moynihan, she...!"

"No buts, Buzz! Get off of her!" Moynihan ordered, then quickly added. "Maybe you should let me handle it. I handled her partner just fine."

Buzz groaned in disappointment and frustration, but complied. But as soon as he loosened his grip on Michelle, she retaliated. She slashed him on the shoulder and he cried out in pain. As he slammed into the ground, Michelle quickly got back up and ran backwards a little bit to give herself some room. Buzz glanced at the blood seeping from the claw marks on his shoulders. He placed his hand gently on his shoulder, wincing at the stinging pain he felt. He pulled his hand back and saw redness on his head. He looked back at the claw marks and noticed they were very close to his neck. Eyes glowing, he snarled at Michelle.

"You scoundrel! You tried to have me killed!" Buzz clamored.

"No! I was just defending myself!" Michelle tried to explained.

"Liar!" Buzz shouted back.

Buzz got up off the ground and, forgetting what Moynihan had told him, charged at Michelle. Michelle yelped in surprise and managed to get out of the way just in time. She would have attacked him from behind again, but Buzz grew wise to her sneak attack. Buzz whirled around and grabbed Michelle's arm and threw her into the wall. Shaking her head, she fought back, dashing towards Buzz and the two interlocked their fingers as they tried to shove each other into the ground. Moynihan frowned and slowly shook her head. And all the Dino Squad could do during the fight was watch.

"I can't believe this... I just can't believe it." Amanda paced uneasily in a constant line in front of her husband. The couple were still at the lighthouse. While the kids were gone, Jack had worked on Moynihan's ankle. Being a football player for years, he had learned a thing or two about how to treat minor injuries such as sprained ankles. Once he was finished with mending her leg, he had given her some strong pain killers. They had worked wonders for him in the past and felt she could use them too. Within a short period of time, she felt well enough to go after the kids.

Amanda and Jack had volunteered to go with, but Joanne had turned them down. She insisted that it was her responsibility to protect the kids, and promised them she'd bring them home safe and sound. When Amanda said that she shouldn't go alone, Moynihan said that Rump was going to go with her. She had asked the young couple to keep an eye on the lighthouse in case Victor decided to come back. She had also wanted them there to make sure the light was still working. It was dark and sometimes ships come by this way.

Amanda felt frustrated that Joanne wouldn't let them go with her. She might have been their mentor, but she was a parent. She felt she had every right to go. It wasn't just Joanne's responsibility. It was hers as well. Irwin was her son for crying out loud! If anyone should be risking their life to save him, it should be her! Jack frowned softly, feeling concerned for his wife. He hated seeing her like this. He felt the same frustration, though, when Moynihan wouldn't let them come with. He did think that it was for the best, but he didn't completely understand why she wouldn't want their help. But there was nothing he could do about it now except try to comfort his wife. He placed an arm around her.

"Amanda, dear?" Jack spoke softly, stopping her in her tracks. He gently pulled her close to him. "Are you all right?" He knew that was a stupid question. He'd already know the answer. But he just wanted to comfort her, to try and make her feel better.

Amanda glared at her husband and roughly shoved him away. "No, I'm not okay! Our baby's out there, going through who knows what kind of torture, and we can't even do anything about it! That stupid teacher wouldn't let us come, so all we can do is sit in this stupid lighthouse, watching the time tick by, and having no idea what's going on! All we can do is sit here and wait for them to come back!"

"Amanda, we..." Jack started to say, but was interrupted by his wife.

"Oh shut up! What have you done to help?! The only help you gave was trying to set up that computer! Oh a fine job you did on that! If it weren't for you, we would have found Irwin a lot sooner! This is all your fault!" Amanda snarled, jabbing a finger at her husband.

Jack was stunned, at a loss of words. He took a step back. "Amanda..." He spoke softly.

The woman suddenly realized what she just said, and closed her eyes. "I-I'm sorry, Jack.. I didn't mean it..." Amanda started to cry, feeling both depressed about their son's possible state and ashamed that she had put the blame on her husband. She understood that it was no one's fault, but she couldn't help but find someone to blame, someone she could direct her anger towards.

"Shhh..." Jack gently wrapped his arms around his wife's shaking body. "It's okay..."

Amanda buried her head into his shoulder. "It...It just isn't fair.. Why Irwin?" She asked him even though he'd have no answer for her. "Why our little boy?"

Jack was at a loss of words. What was he going to say? What could he possibly say that could make her feel better? He hugged her tighter, feeling her tears stain his shirt. All Amanda needed right now was comfort, someone to let her know she wasn't in this alone. He placed his chin on top of her head and sighed deeply. "Everything will be all right..you'll see..." He said, trying to sound confident. But not even he was sure in his own words. What if he was wrong?

"I-I-I sure h-hope so..." Amanda managed to choke out between sobs. "I just want our son back..." Amanda opened her eyes a little and glanced back at the door. She expected that, any second, the Dino Squad would come through the door. She was hoping that they were going to say that he was all right, that he was going to live. But part of her couldn't help but fear that they will only bring her bad news. What if they got there too late and he was already dead? She closed her eyes tightly again and turned away. Jack looked at her sympathetically.

"Yeah..." Jack replied. "Me too."

Peter groaned in pain. He was in a hospital room, laying in a bed. A white sheet was laid over him to try and keep him warm in the slightly chilly room. He had white bandages wrapped around his torso and chest where his ribs were broken and one of his arms, the right one, was in a cast and held up in the air by a sling. He closed his eyes and started to think about what had just happened to him and what he was going to do now. He couldn't go back to Victor, not now. And he felt a tinge of fear at the thought of returning. What if Victor ate him for failing him?

No, that couldn't happen, could it? He had called Victor up and told him what happened. Victor had assured him he thought of a second plan in case this one had failed. He had thanked him for the information and even told him to come back to Raptor Dyne once his arm had healed. For a second, Peter had thought Victor had genuinely cared about him, but knew this wasn't the case. Victor was only interested in seeing him heal so that he could come back to work to either give him his punishment or make him work on another project with him.

Why had he joined up with Victor? Sometimes Peter almost forgets his true motive for joining up with Victor. It was simply for a chance at revenge. But was it really worth all this? Had he taken the right path? Victor had taken him in. He had given him a job, and had given him a chance to get back at the other company for what they did to him. If it had not been for Victor, Peter would probably be homeless now, unable to support anyone, let alone himself. He did owe a lot to Victor and working for him was his way of paying him back. He had even allowed the man to inject dinosaur DNA into him, thus making him one of his men. Victor trusted him.

But was this truly worth it all? He glanced up at his arm. For a moment, he began to doubt himself and the decisions he had made. If he hadn't been with Victor, he might not have gotten himself into this situation. He might not have broken his arm and ended up in the hospital. They told him the arm wouldn't heal for weeks, which was typical of broken bones. And he'd already become a public enemy when he strode through the highway like that. He wasn't sure if he'd accidentally killed anybody on his way to the lighthouse.

Peter narrowed his eyes as he thought of the lighthouse. No, it wasn't because of his decision to join Victor that he was in this mess. It was because of the Dino Squad. They were the ones who tripped him and caused him to fall down, thus breaking his leg. This was their doing. It felt like an insult when one of them dropped him off here. They said it was just because they don't want to kill him, but he believed it was because they wanted to hurt his pride. An enemy being helped by the same enemy that hurt him? What an insult!

He looked over at the IV fluid pouch hanging near him. A needle was attached to his arm, inside a vein, nourishing his body as he laid on the white bed. He looked up at the TV and picked up the black remote. Holding it up towards the TV, hoping it would calm his nerves, and pressed a button. With a flicker, the TV turned on, the light starting to illuminate the dark room since the lights were out. There weren't many channels in this hospital, but they at least had the weather channel. For some reason the weather channel had always seemed to calm him. Maybe it was the music or the blue and white coloration in the background. Unfortunately the remote the hospital provided had no numeric pad. Instead he had to press Channel Up and Channel Down in order to switch stations.

As he started to change the channel to get to the weather station, he caught a glimpse of something big and gray on one of the news stations. His eyes widened and he quickly switched it back. There was a red banner across the bottom that read 'Dinosaur Attacks Highway'. Apparently some people had video cameras and managed to get the footage to the newscasters. The footage being displayed included several shots of a large Apatosaurus stomping into the ground, attacking that father and son, and knocking back a car or so. There were a couple glimpses of the lighthouse in the shots as well, but the main focus was the huge gray dinosaur.

And while the footage was being displayed, a few news reporters got on and began to discuss the situation. There was some debate on whether or not this was real, some kind of cruel prank, or the work of terrorists. One of them believed that this dinosaur was real and was transported here from the past. He began talking about the end of the world and such, which drove the other reporters nuts. One suspected the Apatosaurus was a robot and being controlled by some terrorist and yet another believes that it was just special effects for some movie and the creators were just having fun. None of them could reach a conclusion although they all expressed concern for the public's safety. They deemed this creature, whatever it was, to be a menace and to be avoided at all costs if it was seen again. The higher authorities would handle the creature should it appear again and get to the bottom of this.

Clenching the remote tightly, Peter seethed through his teeth, trying to keep himself calm. Getting angry right now probably wasn't a good idea. He still has to heal and that will take time. He lifted up the remote and pressed the button roughly, shutting the TV off. He tossed the remote away in anger, nearly knocking over the glass of water next to his bed. Great, now this was all over the news and everyone in the city was bound to have heard of it. The only good news is that know one except Victor and his fellow co-workers knew it was him. The bad news is that now he can't risk transforming into a dinosaur again because the police will be on his tail.

Peter wasn't the only one who had seen the news. He hadn't heard the footsteps approaching his room. He hadn't heard the door open up. He only took notice when someone flipped the switch on and suddenly the room was lit up. Peter flinched and covered his eyes, which have adjusted to the darkness in the room. He turned his head angrily towards the door. "Hey! Be careful, I..." He stopped when he realized who it was. "Zoom O'Donnell? What are you doing here?"

"What?" Asked the man leaning against the door frame. "Can't I visit an old friend?" He chuckled and walked into the room. The man wore a light beige shirt that buttoned up the middle of the front. He wore rectangle-shaped glasses that sat on his face. His hair was slightly curly and blond in coloration. On his chin was a small and short blond goatee. He also wore light blue jeans and around his shoulder he carried a brown bag which carried his equipment along with more personal belongings.

"Well..yes.. but..." Peter rubbed the back of his head with his unbroken left arm. "I just didn't expect to see you here is all."

Zoom smiled at that and looked up at the television. While the screen was black now, he had already seen the news and had seen the dinosaur that was rampaging the streets. He chuckled a few times, arms folded. He shook his head and turned over at Peter, a sly smile on his face. "You really put up a show."

Peter smiled back, not fully realizing what Zoom had just said. "Yeah I guess I..." Then it dawned on him. "What?!" He looked at his old friend in shock. "You knew I was the Apatosaurus?!" He exclaimed.

At this statement, Zoom threw his head back and laughed as if this was just some big joke. Wiping a way a tear that came from his eye during the laughter, he walked a little closer to his friend, not taking his eyes off of him. "You know you can't keep a secret from me, Peter, old pal." When he reached the side of Peter's bed, he continued, "I have my ways."

Peter cocked an eyebrow suspiciously. "Oh yeah? What kind of ways?"

"Magical." Zoom said, laughing at his own joke. Peter, on the other hand, didn't seem to find anything funny about what he had just said. Zoom's laughter died down quickly. "Okay, not really. I was riding by when I saw you transform. You almost squashed me!" He frowned.

Peter gasped in horror. "I did? I'm sorry! I didn't hurt you did I?" He began to scan Zoom's body with his eyes and tried to find anything wrong with him. A bruise, a scratch, anything, but found nothing.

Zoom's frown faded into a smile. "Oh of course not! I got out of the way just in time." His face turned serious again. He pulled out a chair that was close by and sat down on it. He folded his arms once again, looking just slightly miffed. "Peter..why didn't you tell me you could turn into a dinosaur?" He didn't know why Peter never told him.

Peter frowned and turned away. "It was my first time... And Victor told me not to tell anyone outside the team."

Upon the mention of Victor, Zoom's expression turned to anger. He remembered how Victor had turned him down when the photo he tried to give to him was switched because of some crazy punk child. Victor never would let him hear his side of the story. The billionaire found it hard to believe any child could be smart enough to pull that kind of trick without anyone noticing. And Victor himself had not even seen any of the children in the area and didn't believe they could have been wandering about otherwise he would have seen them.

"Victor?" Zoom asked calmly. "You work for Victor?" A nod came from Peter. "Man, it really has been a long time since we last talked."

Peter smiled. "Yeah it has. Just a couple years."

"So...let me guess. Victor is a dinosaur too?" Zoom asked out of the blue.

Peter's eyes widened. "How did you know?"

Zoom chortled. "Call it a lucky guess. So...does he try to hunt down those dinosaurs that have been appearing all over the news?" Peter nodded again. "I'm not surprised. A dinosaur hunting dinosaurs. Makes perfect sense...I suppose..." From the sound of his voice, Zoom was trying to accept this new information but was having a hard time believing it.

"Look..I wasn't supposed to tell anyone else this but..." Peter felt reluctant to spill to beans to his friend. He had no ties in with Raptor Dyne. He was just a photographer who had a bad run-in with Victor in the past. "...Victor is really a Velociraptor. Yeah, it sounds crazy doesn't it? But it's true. And he has this crazy idea of trying to bring back the reign of the dinosaurs. He's obsessed with ending mankind and letting the superior dinosaurs rule the planet once more."

Zoom took a step backwards. "What?!" He gasped. "Why would you work for someone like that?"

"...It has good pay." Peter said, smiling a little. Zoom didn't see the humor in it and Peter's smile dropped. "And he invited me to join the dominant species. He promised me power."

Zoom closed his eyes and slowly shook his head. He was still in denial of what his friend had been doing these past few years. The Peter he had known wouldn't have succumbed to this. He would not have joined a madman like Victor. But then again, Zoom did start to believe that, if he were in Peter's shoes when Victor offered the job, he would have said yes too. Zoom would have been in it for the money. He would do anything for money, including allowing a celebrity to get hurt. He recalled how he had let a dolphin prop fall onto that celebrity, Kristy, just so he could get a good shot to get a lot of money for. He might have succeeded too if it weren't for that darn dinosaur that had shown up. That was odd, though, as he thought about it. How did a Spinosaurus get in so quickly and without breaking down any of the walls?

Peter gave a sigh. "Look, I'm..sorry I didn't tell you any of this sooner. I would have, but Dr. Veloci is very strict on who is allowed to know and who isn't. He isn't ready for the world to know the truth. He wants to keep it a secret."

Zoom asked, "Why? Something like this won't stay a secret for very long I can guarantee you."

"He doesn't want the authorities after him." Peter explained. "Think about it. If everyone knew he was a Velociraptor, he would be hunted down and his mission will fail. Everyone who worked for him will be arrested and prosecuted."

Zoom nodded, scratching his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm...good point."

"And things are only made more complicated by this Dino Squad that keeps interfering with the plans!" Peter quickly realized he had said too much and covered his mouth, hoping his friend hadn't heard him. "I mean..."

This had caught Zoom's interest. He leaned in closer to his friend. "Dino Squad? Who is the..what are the... Dino Squad?" He asked awkwardly, trying to find the right words to say, trying to find the right way to word the sentences. "Are they the dinosaurs I've been seeing on the news? Those five?"

Knowing that he couldn't convince Zoom otherwise, Peter gave in. "Yeah... They had interfered with a lot of plans in the past. There have been times that the plan almost works, and then they appear and prevent it from succeeding. They have at first fascinated Victor and later angered him. He wants to capture them." Peter was happy that he was in the hospital now. Victor couldn't watch him inside this room. "And recently we discovered that these dinosaurs were really children with the power to transform into dinosaurs at will."

"Kids?" O'Donnell blinked in confusion. "Those five dinosaurs are really children?"

"Teenagers most likely." Peter explained. "From Kittery High."

Zoom's eyes widened. "Kittery High?" He suddenly had a suspicion that he had met these kids before.

"Yes. We discovered the identity of the Stegosaurus to be Irwin Caruso." Peter responded. "And chances are the other four dinosaurs are teenagers that are students at Kittery High."

Now that Zoom thought about it, the times he had seen the dinosaurs he had seen some teenagers in particular close by. And it was the same anywhere he had seen these dinosaurs. He had not encountered them many times. He could only remember three times he had seen the dinosaurs. And each time he saw the same five teenagers nearby as well. Was it a coincidence? Or were they and the dinosaurs one and the same?

If they were the same, then maybe this could be his chance at revenge. He didn't really have a good reason to get revenge on the kids, but he didn't really care. Maybe he could offer his services to Victor. "I think I know who the other kids are."

"I've seen them." Peter said. "I know what they look like."

Zoom tilted his head. "Oh you do? All of them?"

Peter suddenly winced as he felt a pain shoot up his leg. How could he possibly forget those kids after this happened to him? Through bared teeth, he said through his pain, "Yes! Do you think I'd forget the ones who broke my leg?!"

Zoom's eyes widened a bit. "You mean those kids were the ones who did this to you?" The photographer asked, nervously feeling the strap on his shoulder.

Peter nodded once. "Yeah...they did. They tripped me and caused me to break my leg. Then they threatened me if I didn't tell them what they wanted..." He covered his mouth, realizing too late that he had said too much. He'd already revealed enough information. He didn't want to drag his friend into this situation.

"Information?" Zoom cocked an eyebrow. "What kind of information would a couple of brats like them want?"

Peter turned his head away and closed his eyes. "I'm sorry. But I'm not allowed to reveal that information."

"Why not?" Zoom asked.

"You're not part of the team. That's why." Peter answered him without looking back. He heard the scratching sound of the chair being scooted a little closer. But he didn't look back. He half wished that the photographer would get up and walk away and leave him alone. Zoom shouldn't get involved in this. It is too dangerous for a simple photographer. What hope would he have against dinosaurs?

Zoom smiled softly and leaned back in his chair. "If that's all that it takes then..count me in."

Eyes wide with fear and shock, Peter whirled around fast, but still careful due to his broken arm, and stared at Zoom in disbelief. Was he joking? For a few seconds, Peter couldn't find the words to say. He constantly stammered as he struggled to say something, anything. But only gibberish came out. Zoom tilted his head a little in confusion at his friend's stammering. He had thought Peter would be happy to hear he wanted to help him.

"What's wrong? I thought you would be glad I wanted to join you." Zoom asked, frowning slightly but not in an angry way.

Peter finally found his voice. "W-Well..y-yeah I am..but..."

"But what?" Zoom asked.

"Well...it's just that..." Peter stammered. "I-It is too dangerous for you. I mean..you are a photographer and, no offense intended, but I don't think a photographer stands a chance at capturing dinosaurs and...quite frankly, I don't know if you'll be able to handle working under Victor's control. It ain't easy and there's the constant threat of being eaten."

"If I can survive being threatened by guards and celebrities as well as being nearly attacked by a Spinosaurus," Zoom said with confidence, "I'm sure I can survive threats from a Velociraptor. I mean, how bad could it be?"

"Zoom..." Peter said in a serious tone, eyes narrowed a little. "Many of the workers have disappeared when they had disappointed Victor greatly. While some were simply dismissed, others were eaten. I've seen it too." He shuddered at the thought. He could still hear the bones cracking and the meat being ripped off the bone.

Zoom's smile faded and he looked towards the ground. He started to reconsider his idea of joining with Victor. He did feel confident enough that he would be able to avoid getting eaten. He still wanted a chance at revenge. But would it be worth it? Those kids...was it worth it to try and go after them? They were young and naive. Maybe it wouldn't be fair to punish them. His eyes narrowed. But they did ruin his chance at getting thousands of dollars. But that kid...why had he wanted the photograph back? So what if Kristy's reputation at stake? So what if one person is hurt? He didn't understand why the boy cared so much about someone he knew so little about.

And of course those brats had hurt his best friend. He and Peter had been friends since middle school. They had went to the same classes together and they helped each other with their subjects. Even then, Zoom had displayed his cockiness and his willingness to hurt others for money. He'd been doing it for years. It was how he was raised. He was taught that good guys always finish last. The thought of a group of juvenile idiots hurting his childhood friend was enough to make him seethe. And the fact they had gotten in his way in the past only made him angrier. He wanted revenge and he had an idea on how to do it.

"I'm sorry, Peter, but I made up my mind." Zoom said as he got up from his seat. He started to reach into his bag, searching for one particular object.

"What are you doing, Zoom?" Peter asked, trying to sit up with his unbroken arm.

Zoom pulled out his cellphone. "What do you think?" He popped it open. "I'm going to call Victor. I'm going to offer my services."

Peter's eyes widened. "You can't do that!"

Zoom looked at the number pad on his phone and then frowned softly. "You're right..I can't." He turned to Peter. "What is his cellphone number?"

"Victor doesn't like to be disturbed and..." Peter tried to say but was cut off by Zoom.

"I don't care." Zoom said. "Just give me his phone number...please. I have an idea that he might be interested. I know I am."

"What idea?" Peter asked carefully, unsure if he truly wanted to know what Zoom had in mind.

"A way to get even with the kids." Zoom grinned deviously. "You and I already want revenge on them, am I right?"

"Yes but...a simple prank, Victor's not going to be interested in that." Peter tried to explain. "He's interested in capturing them."

Zoom chuckled in a slightly dark tone. "That's what I am talking about! Should I elaborate?" Peter nodded a couple times slowly. But the expression on his face told Zoom he is going to need some convincing. And Peter was sometimes difficult to convince completely. Zoom smiled. He could use the challenge. "You already know that I'm a professional photographer and that I edit all my shots to..spice them up. They are convincing except to those with a sharp eye for detail." He set his cellphone on the table and reached in to grab his camera and held it with pride. "This camera has done wonders for me. It gives me clear shots of anything I want and I can edit them just like that."

Peter still wasn't convinced. "So you can edit a few pictures. How is that going to impress Victor?"

"I'm getting to that." Zoom was a little annoyed at being interrupted like that. But he shrugged it off. He turned his attention back to his camera. "With this, I have been able to fool people into thinking that Kristy girl was something she was not. It was very easy too. Just a few minor tweaks..." He traced the outline of the lens with a finger. He remembered how some teacher had walked up to him and broke it. She said it was an accident, but he believed it was on purpose. He pondered if she was the kids' leader. "So if I can edit people, why can't I edit dinosaurs?" He saw Peter's eyes widened with interest. "For example, I could very easily make it look like those dinosaurs caused certain disasters that have happened."

"But...except for that incident that I caused," Peter tried to explain, "There hasn't been anything significant enough to..."

"Then we can create some." Zoom said slyly. "Maybe plant a bomb or two..nothing big, just enough to cause some damage, and frame the dinosaurs for it."

"And then what? Have the police chase after them?" Peter asked.

"Precisely." Zoom responded.

"But...Victor wants them. He doesn't want some stupid cop to track down 'his' dinosaurs." Peter explained. "I don't think that plan will work."

"Oh it will." Zoom said in a voice full of confidence and arrogance. "If Victor tells the police to turn the perfect dinosaurs over to him."

"That's..." Peter began to say, but trailed off, a little unwilling to finish the sentence for fear of upsetting his friend.

"...stupid? Not exactly. Victor's a billionaire right? A powerful business man. I'm sure he would be able to strike some sort of deal with the cops. After all..." Zoom leaned in a bit. "..money is the most powerful thing on this planet, is it not?"

Peter sighed. Zoom had him right there. Money was powerful and he had heard of police doing certain things just because someone paid them too. It was common in crime, or so he has heard. "You have a good point there..." He said finally, not sure what else to say to convince his friend otherwise. His plan just might work anyway.

Zoom nodded. "So...will you give me his phone number now?" He asked, looking at his friend expectantly. Why should he refuse to do it now after he was apparently convinced by his plan?

Peter lowered his head in defeat. "Fine..I'll give it to you." He said reluctantly. He told Zoom Victor's cellphone number. After he did that, he added one more thing. "Don't call him right now. It's still early and Victor is probably asleep."

Zoom closed his cellphone and put it away. "Thanks for the number. And what guest? You mean one of the kids?" Peter nodded. "So he caught one of them already? Which one?"

"The Stegosaurus. Caruso." Peter told him. "He's being held at a hide out near Boston."

"What of the green-haired kid?" Zoom asked with particular interest. "I have a bone to pick with him."

"Why?" Peter asked.

"It's..personal." Zoom said softly. "It's nothing you need to concern yourself with."

"I see..." Peter said softly. He looked down. "Well anyway, Victor wanted Caruso for some experiments, in case you are wondering. He is subjected Caruso to different types of weapons and mutantsaurs."

"Mutantsaurs?" Zoom O'Donnell asked curiously. "What are mutantsaurs?"

"They're dinosaur mutants." Peter explained. "You might have seen some. They have a dinosaur-like appearance, although many of them still have some resemblance to a modern day animal. Victor has mutated a lot of animals with his primordial ooze." Seeing Zoom's confused expression, Peter continued, "It's a glowing orange slime-like substance that mutants animal and plant life upon contact. It doesn't hurt and the change happens almost instantly. So far he has yet to perfect it and most of the experiments turn out to be just mutations, not the pure thing."

"And what of those dinosaurs?" Zoom asked. "They don't look like any kind of mutation. They looked like completely dinos. How did Victor manage to get that?"

"That's just it..." Peter said, shaking his head slowly. "We don't know. It's even a mystery how I was able to get a full dinosaur form. That batch is long gone and Victor and no one else can't remember what was exactly in it. And Victor hasn't come up with a reason for why those five teens were able to get pure dinosaur forms instead of just mutants."

"I see..." Zoom said, scratching his goatee thoughtfully.

"Although he does believe he knows why they have control over their dinosaur forms and be able to change in and out at will, just like he can." Peter said, trying to lean up again but not being able to completely support himself with one arm. "He believes that Joanne Moynihan had given them that ability."

"Joanne Moynihan? Who is that?" Zoom asked.

"She's apparently a teacher at Kittery Point. Victor believes she discovered that the kids were contaminated with dinosaur DNA and had helped them."

Zoom narrowed his eyes slightly. "I think we have met... She destroyed my other expensive camera."

"I'm...sorry to hear that." Peter said, trying to sound sympathetic, although he personally didn't care about that camera. Zoom had a few more just like it. "Anyway, Victor and Joanne were..are both Velociraptors I should say, who had developed new abilities during their sixty-five million year old slumber. Victor had not only acquired the ability to turn into a human; he had also gained the ability to transfer the ability of self-control to another. To explain, he can, just by touching someone infected with dinosaur DNA, give them the ability to control that form. He believes Moynihan had gotten that same ability."

"Just by touching them? How? That seems far fetched." Zoom said, eyes narrowed in disbelief. "How could he possibly do that?"

"I don't know, but it worked before." Peter said. "Victor had helped two teens control their dinosaur form. Before you say anything, they aren't any of the five teens I mentioned before. They're different. Victor found them and recruited them."

Zoom stared at Peter for a few seconds before slamming his face with the palm of his hand. "So...let me get this straight." He said, trying to sound calm. But in reality he was a bit frustrated and in disbelief. "There has been eight people who had gotten complete dinosaur forms. There's you, those five teenagers, and now two more. Am I right?" He asked Peter, who responded with a nod. "Okay, so, how is it that Victor still hasn't perfected this primordial ooze?"

"He needed a DNA sample, so he had been hunting those five particular dinosaurs and..." Peter said.

"And..why didn't he just use you? Or those two new recruits of his?" Zoom said, arms lifted in the air to emphasize his disbelief. "That would have been a lot easier than chasing down five big dinosaurs, wouldn't it?"

Peter slowly shook his head. "Victor didn't know they were teenagers for quite some time. The entire team actually, not just Victor, thought they were full blown dinosaurs that just had a habit of being able to disappear and move fast. Victor only recently discovered they were teenagers."

"Still, he could have used your DNA or those two recruits you mentioned earlier. Why hadn't he thought of doing that? I thought Victor was supposed to be brilliant. But so far, no offense, he's turning out to be very...ignorant." Zoom said, not looking very impressed with what he's heard of Victor now. "I apologize if I'm upsetting you." He noticed that Peter didn't look particularly happy with him and felt a little guilty about saying what he had.

"No..." Peter said after a few moments of silence. "It's okay. You are right. There are times when Victor doesn't seem too bright."

"Oh? Like when?" Zoom asked.

"Like the time he caught all five of the dinosaurs but was was tricked into letting them go." Peter explained, recalling what he had heard from Victor and from the recent discoveries. "Victor had some of his men go after the dinosaurs and, well..." He scratched the back of his head as he leaned back down into his hospital bed. "I'm not entirely sure of all the details. But apparently they had managed to catch all the dinosaurs in that cage. But when Victor arrived, there were only teenagers. It didn't dawn on him at the time that those teens were dinosaurs. And he let them go."

Zoom shook his head. "So he wasn't able to put two and two together huh? That's sad..." He had second thoughts on joining Victor now. If he couldn't even see through a simple trick like that, how could he trust him to get anything right? Well he did manage to capture one of the teens. That's it though. Just one. "It seems like he can't do anything right."

"Well it was only a few times. And many of his plans would have worked if it weren't for this Dino Squad showing up all the time." Peter attempted to defend Victor. "And so far this current plan, from my understanding, is turning out pretty well. He tricked Moynihan into revealing her location using her own trick. He put forth a plan that allowed one of his two dinosaur recruits into the lair and destroy their equipment so that, when he would take Caruso the next day, they wouldn't be able to find him. And when the Dino Squad found a new tracking equipment and Victor realized they would be coming to Boston, he set up a trap for them there, from what he had told me."

Zoom nodded his head, smiling a bit, impressed. Maybe Victor wasn't completely stupid after all. He really thought ahead with that plan. He anticipated they would try to search for Caruso and took care of their equipment before he'd capture Caruso. And when the plan was nearly ruined when the kids found a tracking device, he turned it into his advantage and had a trap set up for the kids for when they got to Boston. That was impressive, very impressive. Maybe Victor could be a big help after all.

"Hmm..interesting." Zoom said thoughtfully. He then looked down at a new watch he had gotten. He gasped as he saw the time. "I'm late!" He never specified just what he was late for, though. He placed the cellphone back in the bag and started towards the door. He glanced back at his bed-ridden friend. "See you later, buddy. And thanks for the number! I'll give Victor a call when I get back to my apartment."

"All right then." Peter raised up his arm to wave goodbye. "You're welcome. Goodbye. Oh and good luck!" With that, Zoom disappeared out of the door, shutting it behind him. Peter was once again alone in the room. He sighed, and turned the television back on. "Maybe there'll be something good on this time."

Unbenownst to him, outside his room in the hallway, someone was listening in on him. It was Kista, the same woman who was talking to Donald and Michael earlier that night. When Zoom came out of the room, she quickly hid behind the door so he wouldn't see her. She didn't know completely why Victor wanted her to see Peter. She knew that he wanted her to inform him of some new details and that he also wanted information from him. But she didn't see the point in this little mission. She was growing agitated. When Victor had told her about the Dino Squad her interest was peaked, and she felt further teased as she heard Zoom and Peter talking about them. Though honestly she was not expecting Zoom. Heck, she wasn't even expected him to offer his services, let alone try to call Victor himself. She smirked slyly to herself. Why should she care anyway? It was his funeral. It's not her fault he doesn't know Victor doesn't like getting interrupted at important times.

She was about to turn the knob on the door when she heard, or rather, felt her cellphone vibrating. She had the sound off and the vibrator on. It annoys her sometimes when she's trying to do something, such as now. But it pays off several times because the muffled sound hides her position. Had it run, the ring tone would have surely been heard by Peter and he would be on alert. For her job, she must keep the element of surprise, to only let other see her when she wants them to see her. If she failed in that, well..she didn't want to think about it.

Groaning softly, she pulled out her cellphone and looked at who was calling. She narrowed her eyes. She didn't recognize the number. But judging from the area code, it looked like someone from Maine. Thinking nothing of it, she shrugged and opened up the cell phone and spoke into the device. "Hello?" A voice on the other line, sounding masculine, seemed desperate and was different things that didn't make much sense to Kista. She narrowed her eyes. "I think you have the wrong phone number." The person on the other side asked what her name was. She rolled her eyes. "It doesn't matter what my name is. The thing is I have some important things to discuss with a co-worker of mine and our boss, Dr. Veloci, won't tolerate..."

She had to plug her other ear as the person on the other end suddenly, out of nowhere, started screaming at her. She had to stifle a yelp of pain as her ears started to ring even after the person stopped yelling. "What is your problem?" Kista said as she recovered her voice. "I did nothing wrong!" Then it became clear to her as the man continued to speak, more calmly but still in a harsh tone. "Oh..so you're the little brat's father." She said in a taunting tone, chuckling. "Well you'll probably be glad to know that I am taking no part in whatever fate your son will face or has already faced. But..." Kista was in a rather evil mood in that moment. "...that may change later on." With that, before the man could yell back at her, she shut the phone and reached for the door knob. She intended on having a word with Peter, just as Victor had instructed her.

Back at the lighthouse, Jack slammed the phone back onto his hook. He used such force he thought he nearly broke it. His wife was standing next to him, hand on his shoulder. It took him a few minutes before he had settled down enough to look at her. But his face was still etched in anger and pain. Amanda moved her hand away from him, afraid that she was just making him angrier.

Amanda was growing increasingly worried as the minutes passed by and no one returned to the lighthouse. Jack had tried to calm her down, but she wouldn't settle down until she was sure Irwin was safe. But there was no way to know that unless they called up someone on the team and ask them. That was a huge risk however. If they called at the wrong time, like when they were fighting or something, it could be disastrous. But Amanda felt it was worth the risk to at least know Irwin might be all right. Jack eventually gave in and tried to call Moynihan. But he had somehow gotten the wrong number.

"Jack...? What's wrong? What did she say?" Amanda asked cautiously.

"Oh it was a she all right..." Jack seethed. "But it sure wasn't Professor Moynihan..."

"Then..who could it have been?" Amanda pondered, thinking to herself. They had gotten Moynihan's number and it wasn't like her husband to dial incorrectly.

"I don't know." Jack replied, still angry. "But whoever it was, they claimed to be working for Victor." This caught Amanda's attention, who immediately snapped her head in his direction. "She also claimed to be not responsible for whatever happens to our son, but..." He sighed. "..she also said that this could change...her being responsible that is, for whatever else may come."

Amanda placed her hand against her mouth and gasped. "Oh Jack..." She wanted to hug him, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She glanced back at the paper, eyes narrowed. Could Moynihan have given them the wrong number on purpose? And if so, why? What purpose would there have been? What kind of motive would she have had? She had never given her a reason for her to doubt her in the past and she seemed genuinely concerned about Irwin's capture. No, Moynihan could not have done this on purpose. It just didn't add up.

She picked up the piece of paper that had the numbers written down. She took a careful look at the one for Moynihan's cell phone. She noticed something that neither of them did before. There was some sort of black smudge over two of the numbers. They looked like eraser shavings. She dusted them away carefully with her fingers and looked at the number again. Her eyes widened as it became apparent what happened. The smudge marks had disguised two of the numbers as something else. And those two small changes were enough for them to get someone different entirely when they would dial that number.

"Jack, you had dialed the wrong number." Amanda told him, still holding up the paper in her hand.

"Thank you for stating the obvious." Jack replied somewhat bitterly.

"Do you want to try again?" Amanda held the paper towards him, this time with the correct number.

Jack looked at the paper and frowned. He closed his eyes and turned away. He slowly shook his head. "I'm sorry..no. I don't want to take the chance of being wrong again. What if I accidentally call Dr. Veloci next?"

Amanda put the paper down and reached out towards her husband. Her hand gently caressed his face. "What should we do then?"

Jack looked at her and placed his large hand on hers. "Exactly what we were doing before." He gently squeezed her hand. "We wait."

Michelle grunted in pain as she slammed against the wall of the hallway. She slid down onto the floor, eyes closed tightly in pain. Buzz had just slammed her against the wall by grabbing her arm and throwing her. The fight had gone on for about five to ten minutes, or maybe it had not. She couldn't remember how long they were fighting exactly. But it was fierce. She had to admit it. Buzz was stronger than she had originally thought. He had started to use some of the stuff he used in the online game against her such as luring her to a certain place and letting her trip herself. She admitted that was clever but still got up to fight.

She had grown tired of fighting. She was starting to wear out and as she looked over her injuries, many of which were bleeding mildly, she wasn't sure how much longer she would last in the fight. And her strength was starting to fail her. As she struggled to her feet, she only slipped back down. She groaned lightly and looked up. Buzz was standing over her, piercing glowing eyes staring down at her, waiting for her to make her next move.

Michelle stared back, baring her teeth in defense, thinking Buzz was going to attack her any second now. She tried again to get up, but Buzz hissed loudly, showing his claws to her. She gasped and pushed her back against the wall in an attempt to get away, although it would be useless. And much to her displeasure, the remaining Dino Squad seemed to have sensed the fight was over. They came over to assist Buzz. They circled around her, blocking any escape path. Michelle looked around her, desperately trying to find some way to get away from there. She felt her heart racing and it was going so fast she almost thought it was going to explode.

"Give it up." Buzz said, sensing who had won this fight. "It's over."

Michelle darted her eyes left and right, scanning the environment around her. But it didn't take her long to realize she was indeed trapped. She could go dino, but there wasn't a lot of room in the hallway and it could probably hinder her escape even further. Not to mention it would probably cause the Dino Squad to believe she really was against them and that wouldn't do her, or Caruso, any favors. She sighed in defeat and lowered her head, eyes closed.

"...all right. I give up." Without looking up, Michelle asked, "..what do you want from me?"

Buzz was about to speak up when he felt someone pull him back gently. He turned to see it was Moynihan. While she was happy the fight was over, she glared softly at Buzz, disappointed that he had continued the fight even when told not to. Michelle did provoke him, but she looked like she reacted out of fear, not true malicious intent. And despite Michelle being the enemy, Joanne couldn't blame her. Buzz had reacted rather harshly when there was no need to.

Moynihan took a step forward, now being the one closer to Michelle. She glanced down at the young teen on the ground. Trying her best not to sound menacing, she asked carefully, "Will you take us to Caruso?"

Michelle flinched a little. She knew this question was going to come up. And while she wanted to help, after the fight with Buzz, she started to have some second thoughts. "I don't know... If Dr. Veloci found out, he'd..."

"Don't worry about Dr. Veloci." Moynihan said. "And if you take us to our friend, we'll let you go."

"And if I refuse?" Michelle asked, eyes narrowed slightly.

"You become our prisoner!" Buzz declared. Michelle's eyes widened in fear.

Max jabbed Buzz in the ribs with his elbow. "Buzz!" He hissed at him. "Stop it!"

"No, you won't become our prisoner." Moynihan told Michelle, who seemed to relax a little. "But we cannot guarantee what Victor may or may not do..." Moynihan did have ideas on what Victor might do to Michelle and she didn't want to go into details about it. She hoped this little scare would convince Michelle to help them. And if she cooperated, Moynihan planned on keeping her end of the deal and letting her go free.

Michelle's eyes widened at the thought of Victor Veloci. The others took notice, but thought nothing of it. A couple thought it was just a trick to get them to feel sorry for her. Michelle looked to the ground, thinking this over a little. She had two choices now and she didn't have long to make up her mind. She could refuse to help and try to escape, which may only end badly and get her into a worse situation. Her option was to help them. This, however, could also lead to trouble. She didn't know where Oscura was. She could be anywhere and she could see her leading the Dino Squad to Caruso. And she wondered what Victor might think. Then something crossed her mind. Didn't Victor want them to find Caruso anyway? Michelle grew a little fearful. Could she go through with helping them when, in the end, it could lead to their downfall?

She mentally shook her head. She wondered why she was caring so much lately. Not so long ago, she wouldn't have cared less what happened to them. She wondered if it was because of Caruso and what was happening to him. Yes, that had to be it. She had told herself that in the past. Caruso seemed to remind herself of what happened to her before. She had kept it a secret from the Dino Squad, but she had endured something similar to Caruso at the hands of Veloci. But it was a more gentle and mild form and it was simply to test her obedience, to give Veloci no reason to believe she might turn on him. But regardless, it was still harsh.

After about a minute of silence, and realizing she was starting to agitate a few of the Dino Squad members with her silence, she exhaled and said, "..all right. I'll help you." She struggled to her feet. The Dino Squad moved out of her way to let her walk out in front of them. But they never took their eyes off of her. She started to walk down one of the hallways. She glanced over her shoulder and said, "It's this way. Follow me and be quiet. This place is crawling with Victor's men and if you want to find your friend, you mustn't be spotted."

"No duh. We aren't stupid. We don't need you telling us that." Buzz muttered under his breath as he and the others started to follow Michelle.

"No tricks." Rodger warned her. "If we find out you are steering us wrong...well you don't want to know what will happen." His eyes glowed as he said that. He wasn't sure if any of them would actually do anything to really hurt her, but perhaps some fear would motivate the girl to not try any tricks.

Michelle nodded and proceeded to lead the Dino Squad down the corridor. The Dino Squad remained behind her, keeping their eyes on her in case she tried to get away. Michelle was becoming a bit nervous but tried her best to hide it by acting a little brave and bold. "What I don't get is why do you even need me to lead you?" She said before she could stop herself. "Why can't you find your precious friend on your own?"

"That is not any of your business." Fiona growled.

"And why would you want to know anyway?" Max asked, narrowing his eyes slightly as he kept up the pace. "I thought you didn't care about Caruso."

"I don't!" Michelle snapped angrily, feeling a little agitated. Max was starting to remind her of Oscura. He wasn't as harsh, she admitted to herself, but he seemed to be implying the same thing as Oscura did before. "I was only asking because I thought you were his friends."

"We are his friends!" Buzz snapped. Why must Michelle tempt him like this? If she kept this up, he could lose his temper again and attack.

"Look, we don't know our way around here." Moynihan spoke up, sensing the tension building up amongst the group and the enemy. She decided to step in before something else happened. She didn't want another fight to occur, not right now. They've come so close to finding Caruso. They couldn't afford to have anymore mishaps. That would only slow them down, and she knew time was of the essence. "If we searched on our own, we might not find Caruso in time. We just want him back." Moynihan did her best to sound calm, hoping that it would help alleviate some of the tension building up.

Michelle chuckled a little. She glanced back at Moynihan as they continued to walk. She wondered how Moynihan was able to walk again so fast after falling down those stairs. She was even more surprised that there were little injuries on her. The leg hardly looked swollen anymore and the old woman wasn't wincing as she walked on it. She took notice of the cane, something she'd overlooked until now. She wondered if it was because she was still in some pain or if it was because of the old injury Victor had given her thirty years ago, or so he had said.

She didn't understand why yet, but she felt a little agitated that she was being forced in doing this. Yes, she did tell herself she would lead them to their friend. But this is not how she wanted to do it. She felt more like a prisoner than a helper. She was expecting them to capture her any second and interrogate her further, to reveal things she shouldn't have. She was already pushing it by helping them find Caruso. And even this she wasn't so sure about because of the trap Victor had set up for them. Different things went through her mind simultaneously, trying to find a solution. What could she do to make them go faster without making it look suspicious?

An idea came to her, but she was not going to like it. And the Dino Squad weren't going to like it either. But it was the only thing she could think of to try to quicken the pace so they'd get to Caruso faster. If she was lucky, she'd get them there before the trap was complete. Maybe they would even see the trap being set up so they could avoid it. But she couldn't be entirely sure. She didn't know exactly what kind of trap it was going to be.

Michelle smirked darkly as her eyes locked onto Moynihan's ankle. "How's the leg?" She asked slyly, almost like she was implying something. She knew Moynihan was a bit sensitive about that leg, especially after how Victor broke it when he defeated her years ago. How could anyone forget something like that?

Moynihan's eyes widened a bit at the question. Why did Michelle ask something like that? It wasn't relevant to what was going on. Of course, Michelle was the one who hurt her leg to begin with. She wasn't the first. But she had thrown her down the stairs a couple days ago. She didn't understand why Michelle had done that. She didn't think anyone could be that cruel. But she was proven wrong in that instance. The pain of slamming against those stairs, the cracking sound of her ankle being twisted, crashing on the floor, it was all still fresh in her mind. Moynihan's eyes narrowed as her anger back then started to return. She was doing exactly what she didn't want the children to do, but she had a hard time stopping herself.

Moynihan managed to suppress her anger enough so that her only reaction to what Michelle said was a single sentence, "You dare mention that...?" It was worded as a question but she ended up saying it more like a threat. Joanne noticed Michelle flinched as she said that but she didn't stop just yet. "It is not wise to provoke the enemy when you are outnumbered six to one, don't you know?"

"Oh I know." Michelle said, trying to sound a little sarcastic. "But I didn't think anything of it because, with an injury like that," She pointed at Moynihan's leg. "...I don't see how you are much of a threat. And if you have taught your tricks to these kids, then I hate to say it, they aren't much of a threat either." She knew she was probably going too far with what she was saying, especially after how she was defeated in battle by Buzz. To say they weren't a threat was a big understatement. "What did you teach them anyway? How to run and hide like a coward? How to back down from a fight they were actually winning?" She grinned deviously as she said that, although inside she was feeling sickened. She was starting to sound more like Oscura.

"How dare you say that!" Fiona snapped, trying to resist the urge to chase after Michelle. "You have no idea what you are talking about!"

Buzz stepped in, quickening his pace a little as he prepared to lunge at Michelle in case she said anything else to provoke them. "And what do you mean we aren't much of a threat? I defeated you!"

"Yeah? So?" Michelle smirked. "It was just dumb luck."

Buzz started to run toward Michelle but was held back by Max. Max frowned at Buzz and shook his head, showing that he disapproved of him trying to go after Michelle. He had already done enough damage to her as it is. He need not do anything more. Sensing that Michelle was just setting up a front to try to fool them, Max remained calm. He did his best to not allow the words to effect him. Being a leader, he had to act more responsible and mature. He kept this in mind as he turned his attention onto Michelle.

"Let's not fight again, okay?" Max asked her calmly. "We just want our friend back, so let's just get it over with. We don't have much time left. He could be..."

"Dead?" Michelle cut him off. "Good. He can die here for all I care. He was nothing but a nuisance."

Max was cut a bit off guard by that statement but nonetheless kept his cool. He didn't want to make the same mistake Buzz had made earlier. He didn't want to lose his temper and chase away what was probably their only chance at finding Caruso. If Michelle was trying to provoke him, it was not going to work. It would take a lot more. "He is still our friend and we still care about him. If you ever had a friend, you should understand that."

Michelle blinked as he said that. At first, she was not sure exactly how to respond. She was drawing a blank and she felt herself running out of ideas. If she could not even anger the leader, what hope was there of her getting them to where Caruso was faster? She'd have to get them to chase her, but she had to make it look more like an accident rather than on purpose. If they saw she was doing this on purpose to get them to chase her, they might become suspicious and not follow her. Instead they'd take another path and probably increase their chances of getting caught.

It was difficult to keep this act up, but she felt she had no choice. Sneering the best she could, she said, "Oh you were his friend? Funny, I never would have guessed, not after how Caruso told me, in a fit of anger over..something I forget, but he said that you insulted him in a rather..harsh way I might add. I thought friends didn't do that. But I suppose I could be wrong. I have been wrong before. But tell me, boy, how did it feel?" She turned her head away and continued to walk, slowly and deliberately. "How did it feel insulting your friend like that? Mocking what he liked about himself and his interests? Did you enjoy it? Did you enjoy seeing him squirm, leader boy? Did you?"

Michelle realized too late that she had gone way too far with what she'd just said to Max. Within seconds after taunting him like that, she felt something hard slam against her cheek bone. She staggered back, holding her jaw gently where a bruise was starting to form. She turned over to see Max standing very close to her, his hand raised, a fist formed tightly. At first he looked shocked. He didn't want to do this. He didn't want to snap. For a brief moment, he felt guilt. But it was quickly overwhelmed by another emotion: anger. Instead of relaxing his arm, he raised it up a little higher and took a step forward. Michelle instinctively took a step back to get more distance from him.

Michelle noticed the others weren't amused as well, although she wasn't surprised. Buzz and Rodger both looked like they wanted to kill her. She flinched, feeling a chill go up her spine as she stared into their cold glares. She glanced over at Fiona. Fiona's expression was a little softer, but her teeth were bared as she stood next to Max as if she was preparing to back up him in case he said anything. Moynihan stood the furthest back now, and didn't seem to have a look of anger on her face. But just by looking in her eyes, Michelle could almost sense that Moynihan was upset. She wasn't sure if it was mostly at her or with Max.

Max was contemplating what to do next. Part of him wanted to punch Michelle again. She had opened up an old wound and was striving to make it worse. He felt a little betrayed that Caruso had told their own enemies what had happened, but he probably had a good reason. He must have. He was their friend after all. And it angered him to hear someone like Michelle taunting him about what he'd already apologized for. He hadn't meant to snap at Caruso that day and he wished he could take it back. But it was in the past now and all he could do was try to let it go. There was no use in hanging onto what happened in the past. There wasn't anything he could do to change it.

The other part of him wanted to back down. As much as he hated Michelle, he couldn't stoop down to her level and attack out of spite. If he did, he would be no better than she was. Michelle had given him a few reasons not to become like that, the biggest one was when she tossed Moynihan down the stairs. Max felt a sharp pain as he recalled that day. They came in on what seemed to be a normal day, only to have their good moods shattered by finding Moynihan at the bottom of the steps, wounded. And Rump was hurt as well. Max glanced at the dog, who was on the ground now, sniffing around. Max was thankful for the training lessons Fiona put the dog through. At least he stays in one spot now. The wounds on Rump's body had sealed up and the dog looked a lot better than he had before. He still couldn't believe Michelle would attack Rump like that. She could have killed him.

But then why should she care? Michelle worked for Victor. She and Oscura were under his control. As far as he is concerned, all of Veloci's men are trained to be merciless and deceitful. There is probably no one in that company who is trustworthy, no one who wouldn't kill if they were paid enough. It sickened him to think that anyone would be interested in killing off innocent civilians and experimenting on animals just for profit. Max wondered how many animals were tortured, how many animals were sacrificed before Victor found out how to transform their bodies without hurting them and without side effects. How this madman had gotten away with this for so many years is a mystery to him even to this day.

Glaring at Michelle, arm raised up still, he said, "To even bring that up... you must be either really brave, or really stupid." He lowered his arm, forcing it to relax. But the muscles in his arm remained a little tense. "Just consider yourself lucky that I am not like you."

Michelle narrowed her eyes and turned away. She removed her hand from her cheek and started on her way again. "Of course you are not like me. You seem to be honest all the time. You aren't afraid to speak your mind. That I can tell from you." Her claws unsheathed, but not in a threatening way. She merely looked at them, seeing a faint glimpse of her face in them. "You also seem less aggressive. I take it you must have excellent control of your anger, am I right?" She asked in a taunting way. The way she had said 'control of your anger' got to Max. The muscles in his arm tensed up tightly, and he was fighting the urge to take action again. Michelle took notice of this and chuckled. "I knew it. How could I have even thought that? You don't have control of your anger. Your friend is proof of that."

"Will you stop bringing that up?!" This time it was Rodger who stepped in. The african-american didn't like to see any of his friends being messed with like this. It was hurting him to see Max having to endure this kind of personal and psychological taunting from someone as deceitful as Michelle. "Haven't you caused enough damage already?"

"Oh let me think about that. No." Michelle said within a few seconds, not putting much thought in her answer. She brandished a claw on her pointer finger and extended it towards Rodger. "And you, I've heard about you. You don't have as much control of your anger, now do you?"

"I beg your pardon.." Rodger started.

"There are some things your friend told me about you guys during his stay here. I guess he didn't mean to reveal them, but perhaps he was just too angry to care. Who knows?" Michelle shrugged, a broad, mischievous smile stretching on her face. "But I am sure you recall the time when you pulled a few pranks on your friends. I recall you cut your precious friend's hair and pretty much broke him."

Rodger's eyes widened at that statement and he took a step back. He didn't know why Caruso would have told her that. He thought they had agreed to never bring it up again. Caruso sure didn't seem like he wanted to talk about it anymore. It really did devastate him and Rodger felt horrible about it, especially since he didn't really feel guilty about it until after the pranks were over. He didn't realize just how hurtful they really were and how much it would really hurt him after the fun had worn down. He was grateful that his friends were very forgiving, but those pranks did strain their friendship a little for a while.

He was especially upset at what he had done to Caruso. Caruso valued his hair greatly and took great pride to making it look nice. And Rodger had almost ruined that for him. After the incident, he had gotten rid of that stupid prank hat he'd given to the blue-haired boy. He had thought they both put this incident behind him. Rodger hadn't really thought much of it as of late until Michelle said something about it just now. Why was she doing this? Why was she taunting them like this? She was outnumbered! Didn't she know that if she kept this up, she was going to get hurt?

"So you found your voice." Michelle grinned, stopping in her tracks and turning around to face the Dino Squad. She ignored their angry looks and said, "Don't look at me like that. It's not my fault that you lost your temper like that, Styraco Boy. What I'd like to know is this: even if you do find your friend..wold he want to go back with you?" She turned her back to them again. "After all, for all I know, he might not even want to see you all again. Maybe he'd rather stay here and join us..or even be killed." She chuckled darkly after saying that and started to walk away to continue leading them.

The Dino Squad stood there in silence, their mouths agape at what Michelle said. At first they felt pain at the thought that Caruso might not even want to see them anymore. They had said things to him in the past, or even did some things, that he wasn't very happy about. He even nearly left the team a few times as a result of that. But then they started to feel angry. That wouldn't be like Caruso. He might have been upset with them in the past, but he still cared about them. He wouldn't just turn his back on them like that. They wondered what they should do now. They knew they should just keep following Michelle and ignore whatever she tells them unless it is of the up most importance, such as Victor or one of his men coming this way. But they felt the urge to do something about what she was saying, but so far no one was making a move to do so.

After what seemed almost like hours, someone took a step towards Michelle. It was Fiona. She almost didn't want to do this. She had already gotten into a cat fight with Oscura. And now really wasn't a good time for fighting. But Michelle's hurtful words were starting to get to her and the rest of the team. Michelle was probably trying to make them nervous, to shatter their confidence so that, even if they get to Caruso, they might be too afraid to try to help him, that they might think they were too weak to do anything. And Caruso might end up dying as a result. Fiona felt a pain in her heart as she thought of finding Caruso on the ground, dead, in a pool of his own blood. She prayed silently that it wouldn't come to that.

"Now you listen here." Fiona said with confidence. She pointed a finger at Michelle in a disciplinary manner. "I don't know where you are coming off, making fun of my friends like that. Are you really that cold-hearted?" She wasn't sure if she wanted Michelle to answer that question. She probably already knew the answer. "Why are you even doing this? Are you trying to tempt us? Do you want us to hurt you?" She wasn't sure if Michelle was being very brave and bold, perhaps to hide a possibility that she might be scared, or if she really just didn't care what consequence came her way.

"Ooo..I'm shaking." Michelle taunted, although in a less taunting way than before. "Am I supposed to be afraid of you? A foolish Spinosaurus such as yourself who can't even win against a puny dinosaur such as myself? If you can't even hold me down, what hope do you have against Victor? You weakling.."

"You're really asking for it..." Fiona seethed through her teeth, feeling tempted to tear out Michelle's throat at that point. But she knew she'd have to hold back unless she didn't mind getting charges for man slaughter.

"I am?" Michelle asked curiously. She tilted her head a bit. "That's funny. I thought it was you who was asking for it. Coming here, that is, in an area with plenty of Victor's guards all around. You sacrificing yourselves to Victor now? You going to let him experiment on you?" She grinned. "You must be willing to do that...after all, you understood the risks in coming here. Yes I understand that you came to save your friend. But you must have known that, if this mission of yours fails..you're staying with us."

"We'll make sure it works." Max said, standing close enough to press his finger against Michelle's upper chest, near the beginning of her throat. "By making sure you lead us to the right place. If you do so much as lead us astray or try to run away from us, you'll find yourself on the ground again and this time I cannot guarantee that none of us will hold back. Do you understand me?"

Michelle turned her head away, a slight scowl on her face. "Oh I understand all right..." She said softly, seemingly understanding at first. But then she continued in a deeper tone, voice laced with anger. "I understand that you and your pathetic Dino Squad team are no different than Victor is. You act a lot like him. There's no difference, that I can see, between working for Victor and working for you. You are no better than he is. I almost feel sorry for your friend. Even if he gets out of here alive, he has to look forward to going back to you guys, who may be just as bad as Victor..even worse than he is."

Unable to control himself, Max grabbed Michelle by her shirt and slammed her into the ground. He heard Moynihan shout something urgent to him, but he wouldn't listen to her. His mind was focused on Michelle. "Take that back!"

Michelle struggled in his grasp as she responded, "Never!"

"Take it back!" Max demanded again, sharp teeth starting to protrude from his mouth. He was hoping to intimidate her into apologizing.

"No!" Michelle said sternly, looking very intent on not apologizing for what she had said about the group. She wasn't falling for his intimidation attempt. She'd seen worse, particularly from Victor. Max screamed in anger and lifted up his fist to punch her, completely forgetting about controlling his temper. Michelle's eyes widened in shock and she braced for the attack.

"Max..." Moynihan's voice was finally heard as she walked up to him and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "Let her go. We do not have time for fighting." She told him gently but firmly.

Max closed his eyes. He didn't want to disappoint his mentor. And if he had gone through with attacking the girl, he would have made the same mistake Buzz had. He would have proven Michelle right. He didn't want to do that. Groaning in frustration, he released Michelle and got up off the ground. "I'm sorry, Moynihan."

Moynihan nodded. "I know you are, dear boy." She turned her head towards Michelle and frowned. "And as for you..." Michelle looked up. "What is wrong with you? All we want is Caruso back and we had promised to let you go if you did. Why must you keep doing this? Just how old are you?"

"I'm eighteen..." Michelle growled. "What's it to you?"

Moynihan gripped Michelle's arm and pulled her off the ground. As Michelle regained her footing and brushed herself off, Moynihan placed one hand on her hips and held the other one up, the pointer finger in Michelle's direction. "Then act like it!"

Michelle glowered at Moynihan. "You aren't my mother, so stop acting like it!"

"I am still your teacher!" Moynihan said. She had almost forgotten about that. Michelle had joined her classroom, which made her the girl's teacher. Whether Michelle liked it or not, she still had some authority over her.

"Some teacher." Michelle rolled her eyes. "As a teacher you are responsible for your students. You are responsible for their safety, are you not? But instead, you allowed all this to happen. You didn't succeed in keeping your students safe from my boss! You're nothing but a failure!"

"Don't talk to Moynihan like that!" Fiona yelled.

"And why not?" Michelle sneered. "You know it's true."

"You're wrong!" Fiona responded. "Moynihan isn't a failure!"

Michelle cocked an eyebrow. "Oh she isn't? Then how come Caruso's with Victor? How come you guys are here now? Hmm?" She folded up her arms and waited for an answer.

A silence fell upon the group. Each teen looked at each other, trying to find some sort of answer they could give. They wanted to defend their mentor, to prove Michelle wrong. But so far, none of them could come up with a good answer. A few tried to answer, but nothing came out of their mouths. Their minds had drawn up a blank. They didn't want to accept it, but Michelle was right. As much as it hurt them to admit it to themselves, Moynihan had failed them. They knew she tried her best, but she still failed. One by one, the kids looked at Moynihan. They said nothing to her, but their eyes and expressions told enough. Moynihan looked at them, reading their faces and feeling disappointed that none of them were defending her. But how could she blame them? She did fail. She closed her eyes and turned her head away.

Michelle watched this scene play out, feeling guilty about what she said. Her expression softened up and she looked to the ground. She had really hit a sore spot there. She had only meant to anger them a little. She didn't mean to crush their spirits like that. She hadn't told this to anyone yet, but when she faced Moynihan back at the lighthouse, she was a little afraid. The woman could still turn into a Velociraptor and had she succeeded, she might not have succeeded. She had only won because she had attacked Moynihan while she was still in human form. Michelle's eyes widened a little as she thought of that. Perhaps she was the one who was weak. Maybe she was the coward that Moynihan said she was after she grabbed her ankle. She winced at that memory. She had deliberately went for Moynihan's weak spot just to win. Moynihan was probably a more competent of a fighter than she was.

Michelle exhaled and hung her head. She decided to give up trying to get the group to chase her. She had already said enough to hurt the group and she knew she'd gone too far. If she said anything else, she'd risk severing their friendship. She didn't want to do that. After more silence had passed, she decided to break it. Hoping to get their minds on something else, she said, "Look...just forget what I said... You've wasted enough time as it is. I don't know how much longer Caruso will last, so..."

She felt herself being yanked forward. She gasped as she came face to face with Buzz. His piercing eyes bore into her, and she could see the faintest hint of a yellow glow. "You just won't stop will you?!" He stated through gritted teeth. "You just keep at it and keep at it until..." He stopped himself, unsure if he should continue. He found his rage lowering down and he didn't want to make the situation worse.

Michelle gulped, her face showing the slightest hint of fear. "Until...what?"

"Just forget it." Buzz closed his eyes tightly and shoved Michelle onto the ground. "Someone like you wouldn't understand."

Michelle flinched a little and got up off the ground. She stared at the Dino Squad for a few seconds and looked away, feeling a bit ashamed about this. She contemplated briefly about just leaving and letting them find their friend themselves. She'd probably just make them more nervous. Maybe Oscura was right about her. If she couldn't be cut out for leadership, how could she be cut out to even lead a small group somewhere? She'd just slip up somehow. And she had already done some psychological damage. She noticed the kids were avoiding eye contact with their teacher. She hoped that they would heal over time.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Rodger asked, trying to sound calm though his voice gave himself away. The edge of his voice clearly had that feeling of anger and it worried Michelle. She expected him to attack her at any second.

And sure enough, he did. He grabbed her roughly by the arms and shoved her up against the wall. She could feel his fingernails digging into her skin and she flinched at the pain. But the eyes she stared into showed no mercy towards her. "Are you going to take us to Caruso or not?" He asked through clenched teeth, trying to sound calmer than he really was.

"I..." Michelle started to say.

"And let me tell you something." Michelle was cut off as Rodger jabbed a finger in her direction, inches away from her face. She could see a glint of white as a claw was starting to grow through the fingertip. Eyes widening a little in apprehension, she stared at Rodger, cringing a little as his eyes started to glow. "If you ever say anything like that again, or if you even think about leading us into a trap, I will personally tear you apart..."

Michelle moved her head back, mouth agape. Did the african-american kid just threaten her with death? She realized that he had, and her heart started to race. It took her a few seconds to find her voice after that brief scare. "A-All right then..." She said nervously. Rodger was a big teenager. She didn't want to think about what he could do to her with those huge arms.

Fiona came over and stood by Rodger's side. His arms were still gripping onto Michelle and anyone looking close enough could see just how deeply his fingernails were digging into her skin. Fiona glared at Michelle, and Michelle was thankful that it was not she who was gripping her. Spinosaurus claws were a lot sharper than Styracosaurus claws and Fiona would probably not hold back at getting them deep into her skin just to prove her point. Michelle watched and waited to see what Fiona would do to her.

Fiona took a step forward. Michelle couldn't bear to look at her in the eyes and lowered her gaze. The redhead frowned and reached out with her hand. Much like what Oscura had done to her, she gripped Michelle's lower jaw and lifted it up to make the girl look at her. "You had best heed his warning. He's not the only one who would like to get his claws into you." To emphasize her statement, she extended her claws, poking the skin but not breaking it. "You get the idea?"

Michelle gulped, fighting the urge to rip her face away, and nodded. "Y-Yes..." She wondered why Moynihan was keeping quiet this time. She wasn't really expecting anyone to defend her. But Moynihan, just moments ago, seemed so intent on keeping a fight from breaking out. But now she wasn't even looking in this direction. Michelle looked at her sympathetically and wished she hadn't called the woman a failure.

Fiona released her grip and took a step back. She was satisfied that her threat had done the trick, although she knew that Rodger's threat had shaken up Michelle as well. She just wanted to be sure that Michelle had gotten the message. She didn't really approve of the idea of ripping the girl to shreds, however, even if she deserved it. She didn't want herself and her friends to be turned into monsters. And that is exactly what they would become if they went through with the threat. "Good..." She said to Michelle. "Now lead." She pointed down the corridor they were currently walking in and Rodger released Michelle.

Michelle started to back away a little, fearful that another member of the Dino Squad would assault her. After seeing no one make a move towards her, she tried to relax and turned around. She continued on her way with the Dino Squad in tow close behind her. She tried to shake off her anxiety. This would be all over once they got to Caruso. Once she had led them to him, she would leave and she wouldn't have to worry about them again. Or would she?

For the next few minutes, the group, led by Michelle, continued down the hallways. The place was like a maze. If it wasn't for Michelle, they wouldn't have known which way to go. They would easily get lost in this place even though it was smaller than most of the malls they've been to. Most of the corridors were dark in color, almost black. And there was a weird metallic scent hanging in the air. It was occasionally mixed with the scent of chemicals and other things the kids could not identify. Some of the lights did not work and a few others kept blinking several times, making it difficult to navigate in different areas of the building.

All around them, they noticed there was an almost total lack of windows. Seeing a faintest hint of a window underneath a dark gray slab suggested that Victor probably covered up many of the windows to prevent people from looking inside. That was quite clever of him, they had to admit. That was one of the mysteries of their enemy. He had shown, especially recently, that he can be quite clever and devious. But other times, he didn't seem to be so bright. The raptor has not yet perfected his primordial ooze and yet he had been able to create the right formula to get an Apatosaurus, not to mention the Dino Squad themselves. Perhaps Victor was a stupid genius who could either make a big mistake or a clever plan.

The Dino Squad soon came up a door that was wide open. They looked at Michelle to see if this was the right room. She looked back and shook her head and urged them to move quickly. When the group passed by the open door, they quickly realized why she wanted them to hurry. The room was filled with experimental tanks accompanied by some of Victor's henchmen. The tanks contained failed experiments, floating in suspended animation. The men had their backs turned towards the door, but the kids weren't sure how long that was going to last. They quickened their pace so that they wouldn't be seen. Once they were passed, Buzz glared towards Michelle.

"Why didn't you just shut the door?" Buzz asked her, keeping his voice low so that the men back in the room would not hear him. "Wouldn't it have been easier?"

"No. They would have noticed." Michelle explained. "And they would have come to open up the door and would easily of spotted us. It wasn't worth the risk."

Buzz looked at his surroundings and shuddered. It was getting increasingly dark as they headed down. He could see that there was a faint light near the end, suggesting some of the light bulbs were working. Eager to get out of the darkness, he quickened his pace again. "Let's just go."

As the group continued on their way, Michelle nearly stopped in her tracks. She had this strangest feeling that something just wasn't right. There was something in the air that was bothering her. She looked all around her cautiously, eyes nervously darting from one place to the other, trying to figure out what was wrong. The team behind her were probably eyeing her cautiously, thinking she was waiting for some sort of signal. But it was something else that got Michelle worried. Since they had passed the room only a moment ago, she had this strangest feeling that someone had spotted them. But if they had, then why didn't they sound the alarm? Something was rather off about that. Perhaps no one spotted her, but then why was she getting this sick feeling in her stomach? No, something has to be wrong. Her dinosaur side was telling her that. And her dinosaur side hadn't been wrong before.

She took a few sniffs. She caught the familiar metallic smell, but there was another scent that was coming up. She wrinkled her nose. Whatever it was, it was a bad smell. It wasn't the scent of death, much to her relief, but it still seemed to be bad news. She stopped walking, confusing the Dino Squad as she held out her arm for them to stop. She looked up at the ceiling. Along the corridors there were vents. They were usually open and often used to flush out different chemical smells so that the rooms didn't stink as badly as they would if these vents didn't exist. And sure enough the vent straight above them was open. But the scent that was coming out was almost unfamiliar to her.

"What's wrong?" Max asked her. But Michelle ignored him. Her eyes were glued on the vent above them, her eyes narrowing, focusing. What was that smell that was coming through? She sniffed again, hoping to recognize it at some point. But her human nose just wasn't efficient enough. To try to get a better idea, Michelle temporarily transformed her head and lifted her long black snout in the air. She scented the air again, taking in as much air molecules as she could in a single breath. She suddenly recognized the scent. Eyes widening in fear, she quickly changed her head back.

"Run!" Michelle shouted, making a run for it. "It's ether! Someone is flushing it through the ventilation system! It'll knock you out!"

The Dino Squad hesitated at first. They looked up at the ventilation shaft just above them. They wondered if Michelle was speaking the truth. It could be that this was a trick. But what if it wasn't? Could they really risk it? They looked at each other and towards where Michelle was running. She had stopped after running a couple yards. She looked back at them and motioned with her hand rapidly, urging them to get going. Not wanting to take the chance, the group ran as fast as they could. As they caught up with Michelle, she started to run with them, keeping in front. She urged them to follow her down one particular path, well lit compared to the other hallways they were in. As they reached it, she stopped and let the group run past her. She turned around and next to her was a red button. She immediately pressed it, causing a shaft to come down, completely cutting off their path back that way.

"Why did you do that?" Max asked, pointing at the red button on the wall.

"To keep the ether from coming through." Michelle explained and walked passed the teens. She ignored their suspicious looks and gestured forward. "Well let's go. We have to pick up the pace now. It won't take long for Victor to realize there's been an 'accidental' gas leak."

"Or maybe it wasn't an accident..." Buzz muttered.

"Shhh!" Max scolded him. "Don't start something up again."

"I'm not..." Buzz said, defending himself.

"Look," Michelle said, looking over her shoulder and looked directly at Buzz, "If you have something to say to me, punk, save it until later, unless you do not value your friend's life." She looked away and continued on her way, keeping her distance from the group but not going too far.

Buzz narrowed his eyes. "I do care about him!"

Michelle was grinning but Buzz could not see it because she was looking away from him. "Then prove it by shutting up and letting me lead you to the little weakling." She said.

Buzz clenched a fist, shaking. "How dare you..." He started to move forward, arm raised for an attack. But Michelle sensed his agitation and started to move quicker. If Buzz wanted to attack her, he'd have to move a lot faster. And Buzz did just that. His pace quickened so that he was now speed walking, getting close to running. Out of fear, especially after how he had defeated her, she dashed forward a couple of feet and stopped almost abruptly since she didn't want to lose the Dino Squad. Buzz had a very faint smile of satisfaction on his face. "Yes you better run..." He warned her, eyes narrowed dangerously as she glanced back at him with fear filled eyes.

Max placed a hand on Buzz's shoulder. The punk kid turned towards the jock, the same glare on his face, although he softened it up a little. He could sense that Maxwell was disappointed in him. He could read his expression. The eyes were slightly narrowed and his mouth was curved downward into a frown. Before Max even said a word, Buzz knew what he was going to ask. "Buzz..do you want to find Caruso?"

Buzz wanted to turn his head away, but Max's stare kept him fixated on him. He didn't understand why. Maybe it was fear that Max would read his mind, or that Max would be able to tell he was lying if he turned away. "Yes...of course I do. He's..my best friend..."

Max nodded, understanding. They all regarded Caruso as a good friend. He did have some problems, but they all still cared about him. Max understood the pain that Buzz was probably going through right now. Max wasn't at all happy about what Michelle had said either. But he could tell that, with the way Buzz and some others were acting, Michelle might end up running off. And if she disappeared, then they won't find Caruso in time. As much as he hated to admit it, Michelle was their only chance left.

"Then please..." Max said softly. "...don't scare off our only chance at finding him." He gestured towards Michelle with a jerk of the head. "If you chase her off, then we may never see Caruso again..."

Buzz looked back at Michelle, glaring at her harshly as she stared back. She didn't move from her spot, although her look of fear was gone, replaced with a calmer expression. He then looked back at Max, who slowly shook his head. Neil though carefully about what Max had just said to him. Reluctantly, he gave in and slumped his shoulders. His eyes closed and he lowered his head. "Fine..." He said. "I won't say anything else. Would that make you happy?"

Max winced at the bitterness of the question and took a step back. He finally nodded after several seconds. "..Yes..it would..."

Several more minutes passed by. The Dino Squad didn't understand why it was taking so long to get to where Caruso was. They knew the building was big, but it couldn't be that big, could it? It felt like they have been walking around for about fifteen minutes already. And this place didn't seem to have any stairs either. Some were suspecting that Michelle was leading them into a trap. But after the threats she was given, it was a bit unlikely she would try such a thing. She was in plain sight after all, so if she were going to try to signal anyone, they would see it.

Michelle was, however, keeping a good distance from the group. Even though she had heard Max make Buzz stop, she remained a bit fearful of letting them get too close. If one of them had gotten too close to her, she'd quicken her pace a little until she was satisfied with the distance between them. The problem was, which she didn't realize, that she was a little too far from them. They could see her just fine, but with the huge gap between them, they could more easily become separated, especially after what happened earlier with the ether, if there ever was any ether that is. Fiona looked behind her, feeling a little concerned that someone might be following them, although she could not see or hear anything suspicious.

As they continued on their short trek, Moynihan lagged behind a little. Michelle's words still stung in her mind. The girl probably had not meant it to hurt her that much, but it had. Moynihan started to doubt herself a little. Maybe there was a little truth in what Michelle had said before. Moynihan was the kids' teacher and she was indeed responsible for them while she was with them. She had even promised Caruso's parents that they would return safely, even though she had doubted herself a bit back then. Why was this happening now? She had done such a good job before, or so she believed. She kept her cool and had helped avert many different problems. The team had always relied on her advice, and they had always trusted her word.

But what about now? Did they still shared the same opinion of her as before? Was she still doing a good job? Moynihan couldn't help but believe it was all her fault this was happening. She found it rather strange that these happenings were occurring very close to the time when Victor had tried to scan the lighthouse. Was there a connection? She had shaken the idea off before. She didn't find anything to find suspicious about it back then, but she had overlooked something. She had overlooked the fact that the scanning might have been a trap in itself.

Suddenly a wave of guilt overcame her as she thought more and more about that incident. Why hadn't she noticed it before? Oh why hadn't she realized it? She tried to hide her face from the kids as she felt a few tears stream down her face. This whole thing was her fault. What would the kids think of her after they found out? If she had only had the computer off at the time, if only she had gotten the radar up in time, if only...

"Moynihan?" She heard Fiona say. "Are you all right?"

Moynihan turned her head towards Fiona Flagstaff, who was eyeing her with a concerned look on her face. Moynihan rubbed her eyes and smiled weakly. "Oh..I'm fine.." She managed to say. "Just had something in my eyes."

"Are you sure?" Fiona asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Moynihan gently pushed the hand away and nodded. "Yes..I am sure."

But she was lying through her teeth and she knew it. And it only made her feel worse. She wasn't sure if she could bring herself to reveal this new information, but sooner or later, she would have to. When Victor had scanned the lighthouse, he wasn't doing it to see what was in the lighthouse. He was doing it to see where the jamming signals were coming from. Victor must have been able to piece together whatever evidence he had found. He must have made a connection between the jammings and the dinosaurs showing up. And he must have seen the lighthouse. She knew he did. After the football game Caruso had used his dinosaur abilities in secretly, when they were in the lighthouse, Moynihan had glanced out the window briefly and had seen Victor, off in the distance, just standing there. Her heart nearly skipped a beat as she watched him, but was satisfied when he lost interest and left. He hadn't even tried to come inside. But she had a feeling it would have been only a matter of time before Victor sees a connection with the lighthouse.

When she had jammed his signal that time, he must have made the final connection. Moynihan winced at the memory as it flowed through her mind. He had been testing her. He was waiting for her to make a big mistake and she had that day. That's how he knew about the lighthouse being her lair. Michelle hadn't led Victor there as they had all initially believed. That was a lie Michelle probably made up to mask how Victor had really discovered the true meaning of the lighthouse. It was Moynihan herself where Victor must have discovered the truth, wasn't it? It wasn't because of what Michelle or Oscura had told him.

But that wasn't the only thing that had to have happened for this to occur. There was also that football game. She knew, she was positive that Victor had spoken with one of the students there. A few people had seen, very briefly, Caruso transform. But it happened so fast that many of them dismissed it while others only remembered vague details. But Victor was more cunning than any of her students realized. They had thwarted him time and time again, but that was only because he believed them to be ordinary dinosaurs. Now that he knew they were humans, thwarting him was going to become an even greater challenge than before.


	11. Loss

"Moynihan, are you sure nothing is wrong?" Fiona urged again, sounding more serious than the last time. This time she gripped Moynihan's arm, intent on not letting go until she got an answer. "You keep spacing out. What are you thinking about?"

"I-It's nothing..." Moynihan lied, stammering a little.

Fiona narrowed her eyes. "Moynihan..." She said in a suspicious voice.

"It's nothing that you need to be concerned with right now." Moynihan quickly said, looking away. "I'll..tell you about it later... Now please let me go."

"All right then..." Fiona said slowly, releasing Moynihan's arm. She continued to stare at the old woman suspiciously. What was Moynihan hiding from her?

Suddenly they heard the sound of a door opening. They tensed up and were on full alert, scanning the area for signs of danger. They realized a little when they heard Michelle's voice calling out to them. "Come on! This is the place!" Her voice was loud and yet at the same time a little quiet. She spoke up loud enough to be heard but quiet enough so that her voice didn't reverberate against the walls, which may make her voice travel further than she wanted and have an unwanted listener. When the Dino Squad caught up to her, Michelle was standing in the doorway, waiting for them. She looked up towards the ceiling, looking for anything suspicious. She then looked left to right, trying to see if there were any tell tale signs of traps. Satisfied that there were none, she moved in as quickly as she could.

She knew the Dino Squad were right behind her, so she continued on. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see a silver plate. She recognized it as the food plate that she had given him at one point early on in the capture. She shook off the feeling of guilt and continued to walk towards the center of the room. There was a large cage, rusty with metallic bars glinting in the light in the large room. She recognized the figure inside the cage. Caruso was still in dino mode and was still not awake from the attack from Victor. Victor severely hurt him with the war bridle but what actually knocked him out was a blow to the head. There was blood dripping from the dinosaur's skull, just above his eye. Victor had used his sickle claw to cut a deep wound on the head. It was not deep enough to kill but it was enough to knock him out. Michelle grimaced at the sight and did her best to ignore the smell. Even in human form, this scent was unbearable. And, even though it was no longer necessary, Victor had left the war bridle on Caruso.

Hearing footsteps, Michelle went to work quickly. She transformed into her Guanlong Wucaii form and lifted up her right paw. She placed a talon in the keyhole and started to pick at it desperately. She had forgotten to mention that Caruso may have been in a cage. If she didn't do something soon, they may have to break him out themselves, which would have created a lot of noise and would surely attract Victor and the others. And inside this room, with only one exit, they would be as good as caught.

"Where did she go?" She heard Rodger ask. How could they have gotten lost? They weren't that far behind her. Maybe they took a wrong turn? How could they have done that? Michelle decided it was best not to ask questions. Maybe they were just surveying the area a bit.

"She went in there!" She heard Max answer. She heard the footsteps become louder and louder until she heard another cry from Max. "She's over by that cage!"

The Dino Squad rushed into the room. As soon as they stepped in, they were overwhelmed with a strong scent that was both unfamiliar and familiar at the same time. The room gave them an eerie chill up their spines. It had an ominous feel to it even though they didn't know exactly why. In the middle of this gloomy room they saw Michelle in dino mode. She had her claw in something. It appeared to be a lock of sorts, and she was picking at it furiously. As soon as it gave a click, Michelle turned her head over to the Dino Squad to give one final message.

'You can take it from there.' And then Michelle turned and darted off, running through the door. Her faint footfalls could still be heard and they grew fainter and fainter until they became nonexistent, mixing into the silence completely.

The cage door swung wide open. As they drew closer to it, they could see there was clearly an occupant inside. It was a large purplish blue Stegosaurus they immediately recognized as their missing friend, Irwin Caruso. Without hesitation, they rushed towards the cage, smiles on their faces, and some had tears come from their eyes, not due to sadness but to happiness. Finally, after all this time, they were finally reunited with their friend.

"Caruso!" Fiona shouted to the Stegosaurus. "Come on, get out of the cage!" But the Stegosaurus gave no response, not so much as a single movement. She frowned a bit and tried again. "Caruso! Come on!" She shouted a bit louder this time.

Max decided to try. "Caruso! Look if you're still mad at me, I'm sorry! But can we discuss this later? I don't know how much time we have left to get you out!" But the large dinosaur before him didn't say anything back.

Rodger frowned a bit. "Something is not right..."

As the teenagers drew closer to the cage, they tried their best to ignore the horrible smell. It seemed stronger here than it was in the other parts of the room. From where they were positioned, Caruso had his back turned to them. His tail hung limply outside of the cage and it was clear he was on his side. They could see a few injuries on him but nothing that seemed too serious at first. Then they started to walk around, heading towards the front. And as they did so, they realized Caruso was far from fine. They saw something strapped around his waist and torso. And on one of his front legs they could see remnants of a long deep cut that must have cut a major blood vessel. The skin still looked like it was caked with dried up blood.

As they neared the head, they noticed more and more cuts on him. And they took notice of burn marks as well, areas of skin that were charred black. And on his face, they could see a bridle, lined with spikes, digging into his skin and mouth. Caruso's mouth was wide open and blood was pouring from the multiple cuts he had. His tongue was hanging out and they could see how badly lacerated it was. On his skull they took notice of another long deep cut, blood dripping from it like a leaky faucet. Caruso's eyes were shut softly, as though he was just asleep. His head and neck were curved backwards in a pose very similar to many dinosaur fossils discovered. It was known as the death pose. But Caruso's position wasn't that extreme. The head was curved back but his neck didn't appear to be broken.

"He's unconscious..." Rodger stated, staring in shock at the injuries that were concentrated on Caruso's head. "No wonder he isn't answering."

"Then..we'll just have to wake him up." Buzz said, grimacing a little at the sight of the blood coming from the multiple wounds. That was probably a good sign. Blood coagulates after death and can't flow, so if Caruso was still bleeding it meant they might still have a chance at saving him.

Standing several feet away from the cage was Moynihan. She hadn't dared get closer. Her nose was wrinkled in disgust at the scent all around her. But she wasn't fooled. She knew where it was coming from. It was concentrated all around Caruso's large body. And the more she breathed in, the worse she felt. Her stomach knotted up with emotion and her hands started to tremble. The scent she was detecting was death. And it was coming from Caruso. She watched, heart broken, as the children started to try to wake Caruso up. But she knew it would all be in vain. Her head lowered, and she tried her best to fight back her tears. She had to remain strong for them. She just had to.

She closed her eyes tightly and stifled a cry as she watched the children continue to try to awaken their friend, whom they still believed was just in a deep sleep. But they didn't know any better. They didn't recognize the scent of death... Why hadn't they moved faster? Why hadn't she just let them come to Boston when they first suggested the idea? Why did she have to hold them back? She stared at Caruso's unmoving body, feeling horrible about initially wanting to wait until the morning before they came after him. What a horrible mistake that would have been...

"CARUSO!" Rodger shouted, using his huge lungs to amplify his voice. He shouted rather close to Caruso's ears, if Stegosaurs even had ears that is. He knew that, when a person fell asleep, their ears still remained on alert, so if Caruso was sleeping, shouting loud enough should jolt him awake. He waited a few seconds and got no response from Caruso, which further puzzled him and he was starting to become worried.

And he wasn't the only one. Max started to shake a little as he realized Rodger's shouting hadn't done anything to wake Caruso. "Why..isn't he waking up?" He asked to no one in particular.

"Maybe he's really tired?" Fiona suggested, hoping to lighten the mood up a little. "Maybe he hadn't slept since he was caught and just decided to take a nap..."

Buzz looked at Irwin and narrowed his eyes. If that was the case, then Caruso must be a very heavy sleeper. Doesn't he realize that he's now scaring him by doing this? What if Caruso was doing this on purpose. Buzz felt anger rise up as he started to think that Caruso was awake and was just doing this to scare them. Irwin did sometimes have a bad habit of frightening them when it was not necessary, like when he had gotten him paranoid about mutantsaurs during the camping trip. But then again, when he had gotten caught in the tree, he didn't try to pin it on Caruso. He blamed himself for allowing himself to get worked up enough to get tangled in a tree.

Buzz took a few steps forward, standing right next to Caruso's head. Eyes and body glowing, he shifted into his Pteranodon form. He opened his wings wide as if he were going to take off. He threw his head and long neck back and inhaled deeply, inflating his chest like he had to scare of the rat mutants. He suddenly thrust his head forward, jaws split wide open. A loud, ear piercing shriek echoed from his vocal cords and long jagged jaws. The sound caused Moynihan and the other teenagers to cover their ears as if it was hurting them. Buzz kept up the shriek for a few more seconds before he ran out of air and coughed a little. His wings relaxed on the ground and, with his tongue hanging out, he panted a little. But Caruso didn't flinch.

Buzz's eyes widened as he shifted back. "It..didn't work?" He said in disbelief. Either Caruso was a heavier sleeper than they originally thought or something was very wrong.

"Geeze..." Fiona said, rubbing her ear. "Warn us the next time you're going to do that, okay?"

"Why did you do that anyway?" Rodger asked, smacking his head a bit to try to get the ringing sound out of his head.

"I thought he would wake up..." Buzz never took his eyes off the motionless Stegosaurus in the cage.

"It never would have worked." They heard Moynihan say behind them. "Nothing you do will work." As she spoke, the Dino Squad looked at one another, confused. Moynihan sounded downright heartbroken and devastated. She sounded as if she had lost all hope about this situation. This wasn't like her. She wasn't the type to just give up like that. What was wrong with her. When they turned towards her, they noticed she had dared not get so close. She hung back, keeping several feet between her and Caruso. She seemed almost afraid to get any closer.

"Moynihan..what's wrong?" Fiona asked carefully, reaching out towards the old woman but hesitating. Her hand was shaking a little as she thought of all kinds of bad news the woman could give them.

"Come on, Ms. M..." Max said, gesturing towards Caruso. "We have to get him to a hospital...don't we?" He knew if the wounds were not treated soon, they would get infected.

"These wounds are pretty bad." Rodger visually inspected the wounds on Caruso's face, shaking his head slowly. He didn't understand why Victor felt the need to do this. To control him? What good was controlling someone if they are too injured to do what is expected of them?

Moynihan closed her eyes and hung her head. She slowly shook her head. "A hospital would do no good..." She looked up at the Dino Squad. They all looked at her, confused, unsure, and scared at the same time. She looked away, trying to hide her tears. "Oh can't you scent it...? ...he's gone..."

As she said this, there was a collective gasp from the group. One by one, the teens looked at each other, and then back at Moynihan. Their eyes were wide with fear and shock, and they looked at their mentor, hoping to find some consolance in her eyes, hoping that she was going to say that she was wrong. But none of that came. There was no comfort. There was no doubt. There was only a horrible truth. But they were not willing to accept it yet. It was too early to declare Caruso to be gone. And they had come too far now to admit defeat. Their frightened looks were soon replaced with looks of determination. Moynihan didn't see their faces, but she sensed they were still confident. She admired them for their unwillingness to give up. But in the end, they will only be crushed. She didn't want them to get their hopes up.

The Dino Squad were not entirely sure what to make of Moynihan's announcement. It had frightened them, and somehow made them more determined. They were angry at first. They couldn't believe their teacher, who had always given them encouragement before, would say something like this. They thought it was some sort of sick joke. But how could it be? Moynihan was not the type to play jokes. She must truly believe Caruso was dead. But how could she know that? None of them had even tried to check for vital signs. And they could feel heat coming from Caruso's body. He couldn't be dead, could he?

The silence was unsettling for everyone in the room. Buzz looked down at his feet, shuffling them nervously. Thoughts were racing through his mind. What if Moynihan was right? Caruso had not even responded to his Pteranodon shriek, and he was quite loud as a Pteranodon. And Caruso wasn't that light of a sleeper. He was the first in the group to come to the realization that Moynihan was probably right. He looked back at Caruso. He had been awfully still since they got there. With all this commotion, shouldn't he have stirred at least once? He hadn't moved even a centimeter. Buzz grimaced a little as he stared at the bridle on Caruso's head. It seemed a bit loosely fitting now, but still dug into his head. He would love to remove it, but it was just too big, and with the way it was hooked up, he feared he'd hurt the boy more if he tried to remove it.

The bridle didn't go unnoticed by everyone else either. They could see it plain as day, but shared Buzz's fear of hurting Caruso more if they tried to take it off. Rodger could see a few sparks emitting from the bridle. He knew that this meant that the bridle was electrified. He gripped his neck gently and rubbed it as he imagined how painful it must be to wear that thing. There would be pain from the spikes, and additional pain from electricity coursing through the nerves, sending them into overdrive. The pain would be unbearable. Rodger had seen a lot of cruel inventions from books he'd rented from the library, but nothing could compare to this. Rodger clenched a fist tightly, shaking it a little as he thought back to when Caruso was taken, wishing he could have stopped it somehow.

Fiona tried her best not to shed a tear. She was still in doubt of Caruso being gone, but she couldn't help but wonder if it was true. She reached out towards Caruso, but then pulled her hand back, fearful of touching him. It hurt her emotionally to see Caruso like this, all cut up and bloody and wearing some cruel contraption. She knew Victor was a dark person and that he was capable of doing horrible things. She knew that he probably dined on his own men and would like to get his claws into any human that he sees do to his extreme hatred of them. But she never would have thought that he would be this cold-hearted. She gasped as she saw the way the bridle cut into the corner of his mouth, and she once again looked at his tongue, lopped on the ground. There were multiple cuts on it, one so deep it looked like it almost cut the tongue in half.

Max just looked at the large body in disbelief. No, Caruso could not be dead, he thought. Caruso was just too confident and tough to be taken down that easily. Caruso was a formidable fighter, he admitted. He couldn't have been taken down this quickly and this easily. Caruso had only been missing for at least a day at most. How could he have been so broken this quickly? What could have reduced him to this? But he knew the answer. Veloci is what reduced Caruso to this state. The cuts were unmistakable. If they weren't from the bridle, they were from Victor himself. Max's eyes scanned over the Stegosaur's body, his mind taking in information on the severity of the wounds, making him fully realize the gravity of the situation. His eyes stuck onto the head piece of the bridle. He saw how it cut into Caruso's mouth, how the inside of his mouth was coated in blood. Max closed his eyes as he recalled what he had said to Caruso that day, feeling a sharp pang of guilt in his stomach.

Moynihan worked up the courage to look back at her remaining students. They were staring at Caruso longingly, probably waiting for him to move, to twitch, anything to prove her wrong. But she knew it was never to be. The scent of death still hung strongly in the air, making her wrinkle her nose, trying to keep the bad smell out. As she looked back at Caruso, Michelle's hurtful words came back to her. She had failed them. Moynihan knew she was responsible for the safety of these kids and she had failed them miserably. She couldn't save Caruso. She had let him down. She made little attempt to even find him, and for what? A twisted leg? She closed her eyes, wishing she could comfort the children but not sure how to do so.

When she opened them up again, she saw Max standing in front of her, staring at her in the face. His expression looked almost like anger, but she could see pain in his eyes, and disbelief as well. Max looked like he wanted to grab her and shake her for saying such a horrible thing. But he held back, although his hands were trembling with agitation. Moynihan took a step back, unable to think of anything to say to the boy.

"...are you sure?" Max asked solemnly, almost muttering under his breath. "Are you sure he's..gone?" Moynihan opened up her mouth to say something, but words were failing her. She remained quiet, offering no more than a gesture to confirm what she said. She made no attempt to doubt herself. Max's eyes narrowed a little. "How can you say that? After all we've been through to find him, how could you say that he's dead?!"

"I..." Moynihan sighed, feeling horrible. She silently wished she hadn't said anything, and yet at the same time, she felt a little morbidly happy, for if she had kept quiet, she would have had to endure the pain of seeing their hopes crushed. She didn't want them to go through what she did sixty five million years ago. It was just too painful for her back then, and she knew these children would have taken it even harder. Humans were always more closely connected to each other than dinosaurs. Their bonds were stronger and she could feel that. "I'm sorry..." It was all she could manage to say.

Fiona's eyes widened as she sensed the tension building up. She quickly moved herself towards the two and stood between them to separate them before things got worse. She glanced over at Moynihan and then over towards Max. She held out her hands to give distance between the two. There was no look of anger on her face, just a mixture of concern and shock. Her attention was focused on Max. "Max..please, don't..." She wanted to comfort him, but feared if she got too close he would shove her away due to his current emotional state.

"Don't what?" Max asked her bitterly, teeth gritted a little.

Fiona snapped her head back, a little surprised at Max's behavior. But one look into his eyes told her he was not truly angry with anyone in particular. She wanted to reach out towards him, to give him a hug and comfort him. But she refrained herself from doing so. "Please..don't upset Moynihan..." Fiona asked him. "Please..don't make things worse than they already are..."

"I just..." Max broke his gaze away from Fiona, feeling terrible for the way he was acting. "I just don't want to believe it...I'm sorry.."

"It might not even be true..." Fiona answered, trying to cheer Max up. "Maybe Moynihan is wrong."

Max slowly shook his head. "I don't know about that..." He said, defeat starting to weigh him down, his hope disappearing as fast as it came.

Moynihan didn't know what to say to the kids at this point. She wanted to say something to them to make them feel better. She wanted to tell them that she was wrong. She wanted to tell them Caruso would wake up at any moment. But how could she lie to them like that? If she did something like that, she would be outright betraying them. She didn't want to break their trust. And it was hurting her to see them like this. She tried to come up with something to say, anything, but there was only one thing she could say and it was not going to be of any consolance. "I'm sorry, Fiona...but I fear I am not wrong, even though I wish terribly that I was."

Fiona looked at the old woman in disbelief. "No..it can't be true... There has to be something.." She said, stammering a little.

Joanne slowly shook her head, adjusting her glasses a little. "I wish, but no... I've been a Velociraptor for a long time, Fiona. I have hunted countless times. I have become all too familiar with this scent. It is only present when an organism has..expired."

"No!" Fiona shouted in response. "It has to be something else... I...!"

"There is no other smell like it." Moynihan said solemnly, her eyes closed. "Trust me, Fiona, I wish it were something else, but... I am afraid that is not the case."

"No..." Fiona whispered, feeling her strength to hold her tears back weaken up.

Rump walked over towards the Stegosaur. His ears perked up a little, recognizing who the dinosaur was. He pressed his nose against the dinosaur and sniffed a few times. He snorted in disguist as he inhaled the horrible smell. He sniffed again, grimacing a little, ears folding back a bit. He whimpered a little, sensing something was wrong. He barked a few times, pressing his front paws against the purple body. When that didn't work, he ran around towards the front, towards Caruso's head. He sniffed at the bridle and growled softly, as if he knew it was hurting Caruso. He attempted to bite it, but he felt himself being lifted into the air. Rump whimpered and growled, reaching out towards the bridle with his paws.

"No, little guy..." Rump looked up to see Buzz staring down at him. The young teen had scooped Rump up off the ground and held him against his chest. "You'll only make it worse..." Rump struggled a little and was tempted to go dino. But a look from Buzz made him think otherwise, and he relaxed in Buzz's arms. "Poor Rump..." He said under his breath as he stroked the dog's head.

"Poor Caruso..." Fiona approached the Stegosaurus, her eyes glued on the bridle. She reached out towards it, but stopped herself. She didn't know how to take it off. She couldn't see where the thing hooked together. Feeling defeated, she looked over to Moynihan for help, her eyes wide and pleading. "What should we do?" She asked.

"There's nothing we can do..." Moynihan said, her eyes filled with sorrow. They had an unusual shine to them, caused by tears that now filled her eyes, but she tried not to shed them. "We're too late..."

Rodger shook his head in denial. "No..no... It can't be too late." He glanced over at Caruso. He didn't want to give up on him like this. His breathing started to become quicker as he raced through his mind, trying to find something, anything. He was always the clever one, wasn't he? He was the one who usually could think of a plan. But now his mind was numb. He couldn't think of anything and his brain was starting to hurt from trying to come up with something. He gripped his head, gritting his teeth. Why couldn't he think of anything?

"Shouldn't we..." Max said, looking over at Caruso with uncertainty. "..check his pulse or something?" He wanted to make some kind of suggestion that may bring out some hope. Moynihan might have smelled something that made her think Caruso was dead, but what if he wasn't? They would have to check his vital signs first, namely heart rate and breathing.

Rodger's face lit up a bit. He looked around the group, hands held out, palms facing each other, trying to emphasize what he was saying. "Y-Yeah, we can do that! Great idea, Max! Someone could feel for his pulse and the other could check his breathing."

"But..." Buzz frowned a bit. "How could we feel his pulse through that thick skin of his?"

Fiona elbowed him to get his attention. "You can just listen for his heart beat..."

"Oh yeah..." Buzz said, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "I guess I wasn't thinking straight."

"Well, let's do it." Max said, heading towards Caruso. Following close behind him was Rodger. Max had decided, mentally, that he was going to check for breathing. Rodger head towards the large ribcage. Max approached the head, grimacing again at the bridle digging into his skin. He wished he could take it off, but like everyone else in this room, he didn't know how to. He looked over, trying to see Rodger, but Caruso's large chest was in the way. Rodger was behind Caruso's large front legs, getting ready to rest his head on him to try to hear the thunderous heart beat.

Buzz, Fiona, and Joanne stayed back, waiting for them to get the results. Rump whimpered a little, his eyes glued on the large body and his ears were down. Buzz comforted him by stroking the back of his neck, scratching behind his ears once in a while. Fiona stood close to Moynihan and gazed down at her. In her eyes, she could see both despair and desperation. She couldn't help but feel sorry for the old woman. And she could sympathize with her as well. They were all going through the same thing. Wanting to comfort her, she placed a hand on Moynihan's shoulder. The old woman looked up at her, a tear already appearing. And Fiona noticed that, if she looked hard enough, she could see Moynihan's hands shaking.

"Moynihan..." Fiona started to say, but she wasn't sure what else to tell the woman. She closed her mouth and closed her eyes, sighing. She wanted to say something to make her feel better, but words were failing her. She began to get frustrated with herself. After all Moynihan did to help her, why couldn't she say just one thing to her to make her feel better? As she saw another tear form in the woman's eyes, Fiona felt a sharp pain in her stomach. It was hurting her to see her teacher like this. In all the times she's worked for her, both as a student and a mutant fighting team member, she had never seen Moynihan cry, not even a tear. This wasn't like her.

"I appreciate you trying to help me," Joanne said softly, offering a small, weak smile. "But I fear that it won't ease my guilt. This is all my fault..."

Fiona slowly shook her head. "No..no it's not your fault. How could you say a thing like that?"

Moynihan tried her best not to cry in front of Fiona. But it proved too difficult for her and before she knew it, more tears streamed down her face. "Because..it's true..." Fiona didn't know what to say. She wanted to comfort Moynihan, so she wrapped her arms around her and pulled her close. She allowed the woman to let it all out. It still scared her that Moynihan, usually always so unflappable, would break down like this. But she could not just tell her not to cry. That would be wrong. Everyone needs a good cry, don't they?

Max moved a little closer to Caruso's head, heading towards the open jaws. He swallowed in anticipation. He didn't want to get his hopes up, but he didn't want to quit, not now. The closer he got to the open mouth, the faster his heart was racing. Once he reached the nose, he knelt down, gently placing his hand on Caruso's head, just behind the eyes. He moved his other head towards the front of the snout. If Caruso was still alive, he should be able to feel hot breath against his palm. He held his hand in front of the open mouth, just above the tongue. He waited, hoping, praying. He closed his eyes and hoped that he would feel something. But he felt his hopes crush as he did not feel anything. His eyes widened and he slowly shook his head. He couldn't feel even the faintest of breathing. This couldn't be possible. Caruso couldn't be...

"Rodger? You hear anything?" Max called over, hoping the african-american would have better luck.

Rodger placed his hands on Caruso's side and then pressed his ear up against the skin. He tried to listen as best as he could. He pressed as hard as he could against the side, knowing the thick skin would probably muffle the sound of the heart beat. But with a big animal like this, it should be pretty easy to hear a heart beat, or so he had believed. After several seconds, he couldn't make out a heart beat. He started to feel a little panicked, but didn't jump to conclusions just yet. Caruso's heart beat was probably very slow. So he pressed his ear further against the ribcage, struggling to hear even the faintest of heart beats. A minute passed by, then another, and another, and he could not hear anything.

Closing his eyes solemnly, he said, "...there's no heartbeat."

"No..." Max whispered, not wanting to believe it. "No...it can't be true. No."

Rodger tried his best to keep a straight face. But as he inhaled, there was a shake to it as he tried to stifle a cry. "I've been listening for several minutes, Max. There's..nothing...absolutely nothing at all..."

"But..what about his thick skin? What if the heart beats are being muffled?" Max asked.

Rodger slowly shook his head. "A Stegosaurus's heart is massive. Even with a thick skin, the size would make the heart beat loud enough to be heard."

"But what if they are slow?" Max was feeling desperate. He wanted to find a way to lift Rodger's spirits. "If they were slow, then wouldn't the sound..."

Rodger held up his hand to stop Max from talking. "For the heart beats to be so slow that they could not be heard..." He gulped nervously. "..he's too far gone."

The others watched the two talk to each other. They could not hear what they were saying. But judging from their expressions and gestures, they knew they had bad news. Fiona pressed her fingertips against her lips in anticipation. Buzz clenched his teeth, holding Rump closer. Joanne stared, unblinking, at the two teens and waited for them to deliver the news. Rump looked up at Buzz, sensing he was feeling upset. To try to console him, he licked Buzz's face and whined.

Rodger and Max stood up and turned to face the others. They could see their expressions. They were prepared for the worst. To confirm their worst fears, the two bowed their heads and slowly shook them. They didn't want to look at their friends' faces when they did this. They didn't want to see their sorrowful looks. It would just make them feel worse.

"No..." Buzz whispered, taking a step back. He had a feeling this was going to be the news, but he still hoped that it would prove to be wrong. Now he felt a wave of painful emotions overcome him. It took almost all of his strength not to drop down onto his knees. He had considered Caruso to be one of his closest friends. To think that he might not see him ever again, it was something he didn't want to think about.

Fiona shook her head in denial. "I-It can't be true.." She whispered. She could feel tears forming in her eyes, but she fought to hold them back, trying to remain strong. She looked down at Moynihan, hoping that she could provide some comfort. But she knew she was not going to get any from her. Moynihan was the first to realize the terrible truth. Moynihan looked at her sympathetically, wiping away a tear. But she did not say anything. Fiona looked away towards Caruso. "Oh, Caruso..."

Moynihan looked at Caruso and felt even worse that her fears were just confirmed. If there was ever a time that she wished that she was wrong, this was it. She wanted Max and Rodger to prove her wrong, but they didn't. They couldn't hear a heart beat and they couldn't detect any breathing. Caruso was either dead or too far gone for any kind of help. If only they could have gone faster... Why had she slowed them down at the lighthouse? When they proposed the idea of going to Boston, why didn't she just let them go to begin with? She shouldn't have tried to stop them. She had taken away precious time from them to find Caruso. If they had gotten here just a little earlier, maybe they could have saved him.

"Come on..." Joanne spoke up to get the kids' attention. "..let's go. We...must inform Caruso's parents what happened." It was going to be very hard for her, and all of them, to tell the couple that their son was killed. She silently wished she didn't have to do this, but at the same time she knew that Caruso's parents had every right to know what happened.

Max looked left and right, shaking his head in denial. "No..no we can't just..." He looked down at Caruso, staring at his unmoving dinosaurian face. He bit his lip. The thought of leaving Caruso's body here to rot made him sick. "..we can't just leave him here."

"Maxwell... dear boy..." Moynihan said. "There's nothing we can do. He's..he's... gone..." Moynihan didn't like the idea of leaving Caruso's body here. But what else could they do? Unless Caruso changed back, somehow, they would have no choice. They would draw too much attention if they tried to carry a Stegosaur body all the way back to Kittery Point in Maine. "We...really do not... have a choice."

Max shook his head again, a look of fear on his face. Slowly he frowned and walked over to Moynihan. He didn't know what was coming over him. He just suddenly felt so angry with Moynihan, even though this wasn't her fault. As Moynihan saw him approach, her eyes widened a bit. For the first time, she actually felt afraid by his presence. She started to walk backwards, wanting to get away from the situation. She felt her back press up against a cold wall. Max backed her up, his frown furrowing deeper. He gripped her arms a bit roughly, pushing her a little harder against the wall. "Yes, we do have a choice..." He told her through clenched teeth. "There's always a choice..."

Moynihan shook her head. "I'm sorry... but there is no choice here. The second choice is nonexistent. There's never going to be another choice." She cried out in pain when Max gripped her arms tighter, his fingernails digging into her, and pulled her forward only to slam her hard against the wall again. Her head was thrown back and hit the wall pretty hard, but not hard enough to make her lose consciousness.

"Max..please, stop this..." Moynihan begged, eyes wide with shock. She never dreamed she would be assaulted like this by one of her own students, let alone a member of the Dino Squad. But Max didn't stop. He refused to let her go, despite the fact that he really wanted to. But he couldn't stop himself. His emotions were taking over. Wanting to release the built up tension that he could feel in his fingertips, he released his grip on one of his arms, formed a fist, and pulled his arm back. Without warning, he delivered a punch. It landed square on Moynihan's jaws. Her head was thrown to the side, and she cried out in pain as a bruise quickly formed just below the corner of her lip.

"Max!" Fiona gasped in horror. She couldn't believe Max would do something like this to Ms. Moynihan. "What are you doing?!" She reached out to try to stop the fight, but she felt Buzz grip her wrist and hold her back.

But Max ignored her completely. He continued to pin Moynihan against the wall, eyes filled with mixed emotions. "You're lying!" Max shouted at Moynihan, tears starting to stream down his face. When he shouted again, his voice was weaker. "You've just..got to be lying..." His grip weakened until he released Moynihan. As the old woman rubbed the sore marks on her arms, Max dropped down onto his knees, staring at the ground with a distant look in his eyes. "It's got to be some sick lie..." He inhaled sharply as more tears trinkled down his face. He could feel his nose start to stuff up as the tears went into his nostrils.

"Max..." Moynihan whispered, kneeling down in front of him. She reached out towards him and gently cupped his chin. "It's going to be all right in the end...you'll see. Please don't cry..."

Realizing what he had just done, Max started to shake uncontrollably. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry...I didn't mean to.. I don't know what came over me."

"Shh..." Moynihan pressed a finger against his lip, silencing him. "It's all right..." Despite the pain in her arms and mouth, she pulled the young boy into an embrace to comfort him. It was all she could do. "Let it all out..." She whispered to him and she could feel her shirt start to dampen from the boy's tears.

Down in the corridor, Michelle hurried to get out of there. She wanted to get as far away from the room as possible. She wanted to get back to Raptor Dyne as soon as possible. She just couldn't face her boss. Victor was probably going to be wondering what took her so long. It wasn't supposed to take her this long to lure the Dino Squad there. And on top of that, she was supposed to lure them with Oscura. But she had chased Oscura off. If she told Victor about it, he was not going to be pleased with her. And knowing Oscura, she was most definitely going to tell.

If she could just get back to Raptor Dyne, she might be in the clear. There might be a chance that Victor would forget about what Oscura said and let her off the hook. That would only buy her time though. Oscura might remind Victor the next day. Michelle would have to make it up to him somehow. She didn't know exactly what she was going to do, but she would think of something soon.

As Michelle turned a corner, near where one of the exits was, she saw a flash of red. Eyes widening, she screamed and halted to a stop before she crashed into the figure standing in front of her. She took a few steps back, slowly craning her head up to see how she almost ran into. When she saw who it was, she stifled a scream and took a step back. "Dr. Veloci, sir..!" She cried out.

Victor folded up his arms, shaking his head disapprovingly at her. His lips were curled slightly back, not in anger, but annoyance and disappointment. "I'm disappointed in you, Ms. Brown." It seemed to almost upset him that one of his most trusted henchmen would do something like this. Oscura had told him what Michelle had done and, frankly, it both upset him and angered him.

Michelle looked around nervously. Trying to sound innocent, she grinned a bit and asked, "What are you talking about?" As she asked that, she saw movement in the corner of her eyes. She looked over and saw Oscura leaning against the wall with an arrogant smirk on her face. "Oscura..." She whispered, realizing that Oscura had went and pretty much turned her in, and turned back to Victor.

"You have some explaining to do..." Victor said, eyes narrowed dangerously. "And you'd better have a good excuse.. for your sake..." There was a dangerous undertone to that last statement, emphasized by a slight glowing of the eyes. He intended on getting her to tell him the truth. Her punishment, if any was necessary, would be decided upon afterward.

Michelle flinched as he said that. "Yeah..I hope so too." She whispered to herself. Not wanting to keep Victor waiting, she quickly thought of an excuse to tell him to explain why she did what she did. Hopefully he would decide not to issue any sort of punishment afterward. As she started to explain, she briefly wondered how the Dino Squad were doing and if they had gotten out all right.

"I-It's no use..." Buzz whispered, loud enough for the others to hear him. "He's too far gone..."

"We have to keep trying!" Fiona responded, kneeling close to Caruso.

"But..." Buzz's voice trailed off.

Buzz was standing next to Moynihan. In front of him were Fiona, Max, and Rodger. After Max had recovered from his very short lived temper tantrum, he was still in denial, as was everyone else, including Moynihan. Believing that they might have overlooked something or had not tried hard enough, he went over to Caruso and tried to wake him up. He shouted, yelled, and roared as loud as he could. He had felt his lungs feel like they were on fire, but he continued anyway. The others had joined in, except Moynihan, Buzz, and Rump that is. The room was filled with so much noise that Buzz expected Victor to beat down the door at any second.

Despite the trio's persistent efforts, none of them were able to get a reaction from Caruso. Their hearts started to ache more and more as their attempts continued to fail. The longer Caruso remained prone on the ground, the faster the trio came to realize that their efforts may have been futile, all in vain, all for nothing. All their attempts to find Caruso, it only led to this, shattered hope and a terrible loss. As the trio continued with their efforts, slowing down as more time went by, memories came back to them. They started to remember some of the things they had said to Caruso, and began to regret how they had treated him. They wished they could take it all back. They wished they could do something to make it up to Caruso. But as they soon slowed down to a stop, they realized that this was not to be.

"...maybe Buzz is right. Maybe...maybe it is too late." Rodger spoke softly after finally giving up. "We've gave it our all..."

"No...I refuse to believe he's dead." Max said through gritted teeth. "We just aren't trying hard enough. There has to be something we hadn't tried yet..something..." He felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked over to see Fiona staring at him sympathetically. She didn't speak a word, but in her eyes, he could tell that she wanted to comfort him. But there was something about her eyes that looked familiar to him. The way her eyes looked, it reminded him of how Moynihan was looking at him before he punched her. A pang of guilt came over him as he wondered what had possessed him to do that. The old teacher had forgiven him, but that did little to ease his guilt.

"Max..." Buzz finally worked up the courage to get a little closer to Max since he snapped. He still felt a little afraid of the jock after he had punched Moynihan seemingly without remorse. It was of some comfort knowing that Max apologized for what he did, but what if he did it again? Buzz didn't know just how emotionally stable Max currently was. This was one of the reasons he had stayed back while the others moved towards Caruso. The other reason was that he was starting to believe there was no hope left, that nothing he could do would change anything. As the jock turned towards him, Neil said, "You've tried almost everything to wake him up. What else is there left to try?"

"I..." Max said, but couldn't come up with an answer. He could only look away, not wanting to look at Buzz in the eyes. He didn't want him to see his newly formed tears. They stung his face, already red from the other tears he had shed. He felt embarrassed. A guy wasn't supposed to cry, weren't they? A guy was supposed to be strong. They were supposed to be stable. They were supposed to do the comforting. The memory of him breaking down and an old woman comforting him made him feel like a little child.

"Max is right." Max turned to see Fiona, still standing next to him, defending him. She sounded so confident, even more so than he was sounding right now. Fiona always seemed to be one of the most level headed of the group. She displayed good leadership qualities. Even though he was also a good leader, he couldn't help but be jealous of her. "There has to be a chance...even a slight chance... Caruso's tougher than this. He couldn't have been..."

As she said that, a familiar sound caught everyone's attention. A glow filled the corners of their eyes and they quickly looked over to see what was happening. The large Stegosaur body was engulfed in the familiar bluish glow associated to detransforming. The sounds of molecules and cells quickly shifting filled the air, and quickly, almost suddenly, the body shrunk back down, revealing the human form of Caruso. Caruso remained on his side, mouth still open. His eyes were closed softly, as if he were just sleeping. They could see where some of his clothes were torn from Veloci's assaults, especially on his arm. There was several places coated in some blood from his injuries and his hair was messed up, ripped and torn from the bridle that he was still wearing. The injuries on his face became more clear, especially on his forehead where the massive blow was dealt. The war bridle seemed to fight even tighter on him now, although that seemed implausible. The bit that was still in his mouth cut in deeper now, producing more blood flow.

A strange and happy feeling began to fill everyone's minds, everyone but Moynihan. They were elated to see the transformation take place. They were familiar that transforming took mental power. They would have to focus hard enough on their dinosaur or human form to switch to and from them. This was why they never transformed at night when they were in a deep sleep. For Caruso to transform, he must have had some consciousness left, enough to change back. And to be conscious, he must be still alive. But they didn't know if he would last very long. With those injuries, he might be completely gone soon. They would have to act fast and get him back to the lighthouse to treat his injuries.

Without thinking, Max started to move towards Caruso. "Come on...let's take him back." He said, quickly taking charge of the situation. "He won't last long with those injuries."

Buzz and Rodger nodded towards Max and started to make their way towards Caruso. They knew they would have to be careful when they carried him. They didn't want to injure him further. While they were all happy to see that Caruso might be alive after all, they didn't show it and remained as serious as possible. Something could still go very wrong and they would have to be prepared. But as they got close to Caruso's body, they felt something pull them back physically. Someone gripped them by the collars of their shirts and roughly pull them back. They turned to see who had pulled them back and were surprised to see Moynihan, still gripping their shirts.

"Moynihan...?" Buzz whispered, feeling very confused.

"What are you doing?" Rodger managed to pull himself free and turn around all the way to face his mentor. "Why are you holding us back?"

Moynihan slowly closed her eyes. She quickly released Buzz, not realizing just how hard she was holding him and Rodger. She wasn't sure how to tell them how she felt. She felt afraid, uncertain, and suspicious. She felt like she needed to protect them from suffering what she did before the mass extinction. She would never wish this fate upon anyone for it had taken her years to recover from it. When she saw Caruso transform back, she didn't feel quite as elated. Instead she felt concerned that the children would misinterpret it, and to her fear, they had.

"Please..don't touch him.." Joanne managed to say, not looking at the two in the eyes.

"...what? Why?" Buzz asked, feeling the urge to run towards Caruso despite what she was telling him. Why wouldn't Moynihan want him to touch Caruso? To pick him up, he or whoever was going to do it would have to. They couldn't just drag him on the floor by rope. "How are we going to..."

"It's too late." Moynihan whispered, loud enough for the boys to hear her.

"W-What..?" Moynihan heard Fiona say behind her. She quickly turned around to face the teenager. Fiona's expression was perplexed and confused, but not genuinely sad. She hadn't fully registered or understood what Moynihan was talking about. All she knew was that Caruso might be alive. There was no way he could change back if he was dead, wasn't there? "What do you mean it's too late?" She looked towards Caruso's unmoving bloody body. "He can't detransform if..."

Moynihan cut her off abruptly by raising a hand to silence her. "I know how you might think that, dear Fiona..." She said with a sense of understanding, but there was a tinge of sadness in her voice as well. She didn't want to tell Fiona this, but she knew she would have no choice. She looked around her and saw that Fiona was not the only one looking at her. Buzz and Rodger had moved in a little closer to listen to what she had to say. Max had also walked back towards them, looking confused as to why no one was following him towards Caruso. "But I'm afraid that detransformation only..confirms my fears."

Fiona gulped, dreading what Moynihan was going to say next. Part of her wanted to make the old woman stop talking, but the other wanted to know what Moynihan had suspected. "What do you mean...?"

"What..fear..? How does this confirm it?" Max asked, sounding slightly agitated again.

Moynihan swallowed hard, shaking a little from fear of having to reveal the information. She looked down at the ground, not wanting to bear the pain of looking at her students' faces. Could she really do this to them? Could she really break this terrible information to them and completely demolish all hope? "I-I..should have told you this before." She said with regret. "The primordial ooze does not last long without a host. In a sense it's 'alive', and immediately bonds with living tissue. Without that living tissue, the primordial ooze 'dies'. Once it does that, the individual reverts back to their original form."

Upon hearing this news, an uncomfortable silence settled upon the little group. Had they hard her right? Did she just say what they thought she said? They looked back at Caruso, this new information slowly being digested into their minds. Almost immediately, they began to deny it at first. They couldn't stand the thought of their best friend dying like this. They didn't want to believe that there was no hope left. This had to be a mistake. It just had to! Caruso can't die like this. This was not how their rescue plan was supposed to go. Any moment now, they were going to wake up from this terrible nightmare. But no matter how many times they would pinch themselves, they remained awake. This was either a very surreal dream or this was reality. Yet, in the back of their minds, they knew that, no matter what they did, this was one dream they will never wake up from.

Fiona gripped Moynihan's shirt and pulled her close. She did not hold the same angry expression on her face that Max had. Instead she had a more pained look of disbelief. Her eyes were wide with fear. She shook her head in denial. "..It's not true..." She whispered. "Please..tell me it's not true.." Tears threatened to stream down her face as she found it more difficult to hold them back. "Tell me it's not so..."

"I'm sorry... But I can't..." Moynihan closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around Fiona, pulling her close. Fiona didn't fight back at first, just letting the woman hold onto her. She could hear sniffling from Moynihan, who was trying to hold back her tears but failing to do so. "I'm so sorry..." She whispered as she tried to console Fiona. She wished there was something more she could do.

Fiona shook her head in both despair and denial. "No..." Suddenly she shoved Moynihan away. The startled woman stammered back a few inches, looking at Fiona with a shocked expression. Fiona didn't stand there for very long. She quickly turned around and started to dash towards Caruso. "Caruso!" She felt herself being pulled back. She glared at Moynihan, who had gripped onto her arm. "Let me go! He needs help!" She shouted, pulling her arm roughly away only to be gripped again.

"Fiona!" Moynihan tried to explain. "It's too late!"

"It's not too late! There's still time!" Fiona said, completely denying Moynihan's claim. "We just need to hurry!"

Moynihan tried to pull Fiona back, tried to stop her. "Don't touch him!" She shouted with a sense of urgency in her voice. "Don't go near him! Please..." She begged, choking back a sob. "Please...I don't want you to be more hurt than you already are... please..." But her begs fell on deaf ears. With one final pull, Fiona broke free from her grasp. All Moynihan and the boys could do was watch as the distressed tomboy rushed towards the still form on the ground, calling out his name in vain, hoping he would respond.

"Caruso!" Fiona shouted one last time as she reached Caruso's side. Her running slowed quickly into a walk. Her expression was pain-filled and her eyes were glossy from the tears filling them up. As she walked by his side, her voice lowered into a pained, soft speaking voice. "Caruso..." She whispered, a slight crack to it as she tried not to cry. She felt herself fall into her knees next to the young teen that she had grown so attached to since the incident at the tide pool. She reached out towards Caruso's face with a shaky hand. She wanted to touch his face, but she pulled her hand back as she looked at the bridle that dug into his skin. Her lip quivered as she said, "No..." She pushed her hands underneath his unmoving body, pulling Caruso up off the ground and into her arms. She stared into his face as she gently cradled him. "Oh no...please..." She said, choking back a sob. "No..."

Moynihan couldn't stand seeing Fiona like this. She could feel Fiona's pain, and she felt a sharp pain in her heart as she watched the girl try to wake up Caruso. It hurt her even more knowing that nothing Fiona will do will change a thing. She looked away from the heartbreaking scene, many tears staining her face. "Oh Fiona..." She murmured, sniffling a bit. "Why didn't you listen...?"

Fiona's hand found its way onto the headpiece, feeling the cold metal as a sharp pain dug into her stomach. This horrible contraption, she couldn't begin to imagine what it must have put Caruso through. Without thinking, she transformed her hand and used her large claws to cut through the terrible device. "I'm going to get this off of you, Caruso..." She said to him as if she was expecting a reply. As she cut the final strap, the straps holding the headpiece to his body loosened up. A few more cuts and Fiona managed to get the body piece off, revealing red marks on his skin where the straps pressed into him.

Fiona gently gripped the head piece with one hand. Very carefully, she pulled on it, sliding it off of Caruso's head. When she got it off, she tossed it away in disgust, angry with what it had done to Caruso. She turned her attention back towards Caruso. Slowly, she touched his face, pressing her hand against his cheek. "Caruso...?" She tried again, hoping that he might hear her this time. "Caruso...please...wake up..." She begged him, stroking his hair. "We're here now... We've come to save you, just like I promised..." But she didn't get a response from Caruso. His eyes remained closed and he didn't move an inch. "No..."

Swallowing her own fear, Moynihan slowly walked over towards Fiona. She tried her best to ignore the smell radiating from his body. She knelt down right behind them and remained still for several seconds, unsure of what to do. Eventually she wrapped her arms around Fiona again, hugging her tightly but gently. This time, Fiona did not try to struggle and she didn't push Moynihan away. Instead, she gave into her emotions. She started sobbing as she pressed her cheek against Caruso's head. Moynihan continued to hug the convulsing, heartbroken Fiona as she let it out. Hearing Fiona cry like this was only making her feel even more guilty and renewed a sense of protectiveness for the remaining kids.

Rump whined loudly as he listened to Fiona cry. Sitting down on his haunches, he lifted his head towards the ceiling and let out a long, haunting howl, a throwback to his distance ancestor, the wolf. As his howl slowly faded, he felt himself being picked up. He turned to see Max holding him. In an attempt to comfort the jock, Rump licked his face a few times. Max smiled a little, but that smile quickly faded as he looked towards where Caruso was being held by Fiona.

Max had a hard time accepting what had just happened. They arrive here, ready to get Caruso out as soon as possible. Then they find out that he might be dead, and then he changes back into his human form. But Moynihan claimed that it only proved that he was dead. This was all almost too much for Max to handle. He closed his eyes as his guilt came over him once again. Seeing Caruso like this, seeing those cuts on his body and face, it reminded him so much of what he had said to Caruso not so long ago. He had outright said that he was sick of the teen, especially his fame-seeking habits. Max swallowed hard as he remembered just how hard Caruso had taken that insult. He looked..defeated if that sounded right. He was so emotionally distressed that he hardly made a strong reaction.

He wished he could apologize. It was what he wanted to do the most when they would find Caruso. But now that they were here, he finds that he is too late. There's no time left to apologize, no time for anything. Caruso would never know just how sorry he truly was, and this tore through Max's very soul. He was trying his best not to cry again. His face was still red where the tears stained him and it stung a little. But his efforts were in vain as another tear escaped and stained his already sore cheek. Holding Rump with one arm, he traced the tear from his face with a single finger.

"I can't imagine...the pain he must have been through.." Max had managed to say, his voice choking as he fought back a sob. "And..we weren't able to stop it..." He found it harder and harder to hold back his tears. As he fought back his tears, he failed to notice Rodger walking up towards him from behind. "I'm sorry Caruso...I'm so sorry..." He whispered, closing his eyes and covering his face with his free hand. He nearly jumped when he felt a large hand on his shoulder.

"Are..you all right?" Rodger asked carefully, even though he could clearly tell what was wrong.

Max was silent for a few seconds and then glared at Rodger, almost like he was furious with Rodger for asking that. He felt like punching the guy. He was fighting the urge to wretch himself away from him. But he couldn't get his legs to move. Instead he stood there frozen, glaring at Rodger. He started to shake a little and Rump started to feel uncomfortable, sensing the teen's growing anger. He struggled to get out of Max's arm and when he managed to get free, he trotted towards Buzz. Seeing how Rump reacted to his swift change of emotion and noticing Rodger's growing concern, Max slowly relaxed and slumped his shoulders. He couldn't take out his frustration on Rodger. That would only make things worse.

"It's just that..." Max exhaled slowly. "I never got a chance to apologize..."

Rodger tried to comfort Max with a smile. "I'm sure he knew you were sorry..."

"But it's not just that..." Max said, turning away to look at Caruso. "We took so long to get here... What if he thinks we abandoned him on purpose? What if he died believing we did not care?"

Rodger was taken aback by this statement. This didn't sound like the Max he knew. And it certainly didn't sound like something Caruso might believe. "Why do you think that? I don't believe Caruso would believe such a thing. I mean, he knew we cared about him..."

Max frowned a little. "Did he? After what we said and done to him... did he really believe we cared about it?"

"Now listen here, it was you who said all those things to..." Rodger said, attempting to defend himself.

"Rodger..we are all guilty." Max said in a serious tone, eyes narrowing slightly.

"How are we all..." Rodger started to say before he realized just what Max had meant. "Oh..."

In a way, they were all guilty of doing something that really upset Caruso. Usually, under normal circumstances, they would just brush it off as if it were no big deal. All friendships had their quirks, didn't they? All friends would have problems with one another. It was normal. But they never would have believed just how much these seemingly meaningless things would effect them after Caruso had died. They never expected it to happen this fast. Caruso was so young. He didn't deserve this. As memories flashed through his mind, one in particular stood out. It was the time when he had cut Caruso's hair without his permission. He had wanted to forget about that. He remembered how upset Caruso was. And Rodger had only made it worse by purposely exposing his bad haircut in front of the entire classroom.

Rodger slowly shook his head. What was he thinking? Was he so caught up in the idea of revenge that he would ignore the emotional warning signs? He had laughed so much after seeing Caruso run away like that. But now, thinking back, it only brought him pain for two reasons. The first one being that Caruso was in emotional distress. The second one was that he had found the entire situation very amusing. He hadn't taken Caruso's feelings into consideration. All he had cared about was getting revenge over something that could have been settled had he just talked to them. Rodger felt like beating himself up. Why hadn't he done that in the first place?

Another incident that came to Rodger's mind was during the football game. Caruso had wanted to win a football game and he wanted to do it through cheating. He had wanted to use his dinosaur powers to win, and this was something that everyone else had strongly opposed. They had all believed that he only wanted to do it simply for fame. That seemed to be a strong motivation for Caruso. If it involved fame and fortune, he'd be willing to do almost anything. He was even willing to expose himself on national television because of this dream. But it was only later that they had found out the real reason for Caruso cheating. It wasn't for himself. He was only doing it so that he would please his parents. He was afraid of letting them down. He didn't want to do that, so he decided to cheat to win the game to make his parents proud of him.

Rodger recalled that the group didn't feel too guilty afterwards. Caruso wasn't upset and he had decided to stay on the team anyway. But now, things felt a little different. Rodger felt even worse, and he couldn't shake off that feeling, even though Caruso didn't harbor any ill feelings towards him. Or did he? He started to feel a little concerned, just like Max. What if Caruso had believed they abandoned him on purpose? Caruso was only missing for about a day, but with what he had gone through here, time must have seemed to take an eternity to pass by. He probably lost hope very quickly and had died believing that they didn't care about him. This wasn't true of course, but did Caruso know that? Rodger closed his eyes and sighed. He couldn't help but feel responsible.

He had tried to create a computer to locate Caruso, and he had failed miserably. The computer died almost instantly and he almost set the lighthouse on fire. He had failed and of all the times for it to happen too...

"You're not the only one who believes they had failed Caruso." Rodger said to Max.

"Darn it!" They heard Buzz shout. They quickly looked over at the teen. Buzz had slammed his fist onto the hard ground. He flinched in pain but didn't pull his hand away. Rump had backed up a bit, but remained close, albeit confused. Buzz dropped onto his knees, shaking in anger. His eyes were closed so tightly it looked like he would rip his eyelids off. Grinding his teeth, he hissed, "Stupid Veloci! Why did he have to do this?! How could anybody be this cruel?!" He took in a few shaky breaths as Max and Rodger watched him, unsure of what to say. Buzz didn't pay attention to them. He was caught up in his own grief. "Caruso...he was just a kid! Do you hear me, Veloci?! HE WAS JUST A KID!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, uncaring if anyone, be it friend or foe, heard him. After the shout, he opened up his eyes, letting the tears flow from them as he slowly stopped shaking.

Max turned away for a few seconds, feeling the pain and distress in Buzz's voice. But he couldn't keep his gaze away from the punk-loving teenager. Without saying a word to Rodger, he made his way towards Buzz. When he reached him, he knelt down behind him and tried to comfort him. He placed a hand carefully on the teen's shoulders. He wasn't sure how Buzz might react. At most, he expected him to shove him away. But instead, Buzz simply looked up at him. He made no attempt to push him away. Max looked to the ground, struggling to find the words to say.

When he finally found the words to say, he opened up his mouth slowly, but even then hesitated a little. "Don't worry, Buzz... Victor will not get away with this. Caruso's death will not be in vain." Max spoke loudly with confidence. "I can promise you that, if that makes you feel better." Buzz didn't respond, but offered a small smile of gratitude. It helped him feel better knowing he wasn't the only one who felt this way.

"He'll pay..." Rodger said, now standing close behind the other two males. He had followed Max over and heard what he told Buzz. Rodger felt his own desire for revenge rise up inside of him. He wanted to let out this terrible feeling and now he had a target. They had been blaming themselves for something that had happened in the past. It wasn't their fault Caruso was dead. It was Victor's. He was the cold-blooded killer who murdered Caruso without a second's thought. "Mark my words.. Victor will pay for what he did!"

"If I ever get my hands on him..I'll..." Buzz gripped at the ground with his fingernails. He was still on his knees. "..rip him apart! I'll kill him!" He shouted and then clenched his teeth together. "I'll kill him..."

"Make him suffer the pain that we did when we lost Caruso." Max hissed. "Make him suffer every once of pain he inflicted onto our friend!"

Fiona shuddered as she listened to what the boys were saying. She had gently set Caruso's body on the ground and turned around and hugged Moynihan back. She had so many things on her mind right now. And the way the others were acting wasn't making herself feel any better. In fact, it was frightening her. Right now, she wasn't interested in revenge. She was in too much pain to be thinking about ways to go after Victor. She understood why the boys were upset and why they would want to seek revenge, but it was still frightening to see them like this. It was so unlike them to talk like this about anyone, and she hadn't seem them act this way before either. This combined with the thought of losing Caruso was making her mind an emotional wreck.

Continuing to hug Moynihan, Fiona whispered, "Why are they acted like this...? They're scaring me..."

Moynihan gently stroked Fiona's red hair. "They're just upset dear... We all are."

Fiona got quiet after Moynihan said that. She knew the old woman was right. Caruso's death was taking a toll on all of them. She began to contemplate why she was feeling like this. She hadn't expected Caruso's death to have this kind of impact on her. She did care about him and regarded him as one of her closest friends. But with his death came a wave of new, unexpected feelings. She remembered how she was feeling when she held him in her arms. He still felt warm, but only just slightly. Feeling his core body temperature drop like that made her heart ache more the longer she held him. She was struggling to prevent herself from crying. She wasn't the type to allow herself to cry so quickly. But this...this was just too much for her. She couldn't hide her emotions. Fiona then started to ask herself one question. Did she regard Caruso as more than just a friend?

She didn't think too much of him at first, before the tide pool incident. To her, he was just another vain show-off who tries to impress other people, but had a selfish motivation in doing so. He hardly seemed interested in developing genuine relationships. He seemed more like the person to use people and then throw them away when he was done with them. If it had been her choice, she never would have bothered to get to know him. But after the tide pool incident, and they gained dinosaur forms, she was suddenly thrown onto a team with him, along with three other people she didn't think highly of at the time. She thought she would be driven crazy knowing they know had to work as a team on a regular basis.

But the longer she worked with them, the quicker she grew to realize that these people weren't as bad as she thought they were. Their battles had not only made them a better team, but it also helped them understand each other better. And as a result they grew close, both as a team and as friends. It wasn't until now did Fiona realize she had grown especially close to Caruso. She didn't always show it, but she seemed to have developed a special attachment to Caruso. Was it love? Fiona shook her head at the thought. She wasn't interested in love, so why would she even think about developing a crush on Caruso? It just seemed...absurd and awkward. He was a friend, that's all! Or was he...?

Fiona tightened her grip on Moynihan a little bit. She wanted to stop thinking about what happened, but how could anyone ignore the loss of a loved one, especially when they were right at their feet? Fiona wanted to wake up from this nightmare. Caruso couldn't possibly die! There was just no way.. It was impossible!

Fiona finally managed to say something after being lost in deep thought for a few minutes. "W-Why...?" She choked, breathing in shaky, sharp gasps of air. "Why did he have to die...?" She sniffled, tears starting to stuff up her nose. But she didn't care. "I..I never got a chance to..." She couldn't deny it anymore. "..tell him how much I..loved him..." She started to cry a little harder.

Moynihan sighed sadly. She gently stroked Fiona's hair again to try to calm her down. It hurt her to see the girl like this. "Shhhh..." She whispered, trying to get Fiona to stop crying. "It's all right...shhh..." She then, not knowing what else to do to cheer Fiona up, gently planted a small kiss on her forehead, like how a mother would do to her child. Fiona didn't object.

"This...this is all my fault..." Fiona muttered under her breath, silently cursing herself. "I should have gone faster... I'm a Spinosaurus... I should have been able to move faster.." She gritted her teeth, clinging a little tighter into Moynihan to the point where she was unintentionally driving her nails into her. "All my fault..."

Moynihan slowly shook her head. "It's not your fault Fiona... Don't blame yourself." She whispered, slowly rubbing her face against Fiona's in another attempt to comfort her. "If it's anyone's fault... It's mine." She said regretfully.

Fiona's eyes snapped open and she moved her head back to look up at the teacher. Moynihan had a look of shame on her face and she could see a tiny glint under Moynihan's eyes where tears of guilt were starting to form. Fiona slowly shook her head, her eyes narrowed slightly in confusion. "No..." She said, wiping away her own tears. "No. It's not your fault, Ms. Moynihan.. How could it be your fault? You tried your best... You didn't mean for this to happen..."

"And my best was not good enough..." Moynihan said glumly. She released one of her arms from Fiona and put her face in her hand. "It wasn't good enough..." She let her tears fall down her face, not bothering to wipe them away. She ignore the increasing difficulty she was having to breathe through her nose and continued to blame herself. She didn't know who else to blame. She was the one who was in charge of these kids. She was the one who should have been able to protect them. She had failed them and she couldn't clear her mind of this fact. "It's all my fault... I'm so stupid! Why didn't I see this coming...? Oh..I should have seen the warning signs... I should have done something earlier..."

Fiona's lower lip quivered a little as she listened to what Moynihan was saying. "Oh Moynihan...please, don't blame yourself..." She tried to comfort Moynihan by snuggling up against her. But she feared it wouldn't be good enough. She listened to the old woman start to cry. Fiona looked over her shoulder towards the boys and gave them an almost frightened, helpless look. She wanted them to come over and help her calm the old woman down.

The boys stared back at Fiona, a look of sympathy and guilt on their faces. They could sympathize with Fiona and Moynihan and what they were going through right now. But at the same time they couldn't help but feel guilty. They had heard Fiona say how they were frightening her with the way they were acting. They immediately grew quiet after hearing her say that, mentally scolding themselves for allowing their anger to get the better of them. They were so desperate in releasing their anger that they had forgotten to take others' feelings into account. And the expression that Fiona was giving them was only making them feel worse. They tried to think of something that they could do to make them all feel better.

After staring at the heart wrenching scene before them, Max started to make his way towards them. Buzz and Rodger slowly followed, Rump running by their heels. As they reached Moynihan and Fiona, they dropped down onto the ground, forming a small circle around them. Moynihan hadn't noticed that they were there, but Fiona did. It took her a few seconds to find something to say to the boys.

"..what are we going to do..?" Fiona whispered under her breath, looking at Moynihan with concern. It frightened her to see Moynihan blame herself like this. It just wasn't like her. "I'm so worried about her..."

Max was the first one of the boys to give an answer. "Ms. Moynihan... you shouldn't blame yourself. Trust me..I know..that it is like..." He closed his eyes slowly, placing a hand on his forehead, rubbing his forehead a little. "...to blame yourself when something goes wrong... It doesn't work, believe me... It only makes things worse." He was speaking from experience. When he was blaming himself earlier, he knew that he was only making himself feel worse. He wasn't doing himself or anyone else any favors.

Moynihan didn't bother looking at the boy when she gave her response. "No...it is my fault." She didn't know why she was refusing to listen to Maxwell's advice. She wanted so much to do so, but her own guilt was pulling her back. She felt the urge to continue blaming herself, to continue beating herself up even though she knew it was upsetting the children. "I..I don't deserve to be your mentor... I let you all down..."

"Moynihan!" Max gasped, frightened and a little shocked that Moynihan didn't listen to a word he was telling her. "Please..stop it!" He said with a strong sense of urgency in his voice.

"It's not going to do any of us any favors..." Rodger said, trying to sound a bit calmer than Max did. "Please...stop this..."

"It hurts us to see you like this." Buzz said softly.

Rump's ears lowered down a bit further as he walked over to Moynihan. He gently nudged her with his nose before whining a little. He curled up next to her, moving as close as he could to the old woman in a desperate attempt to try and cheer her up.

"Even Rump knows you shouldn't be blaming yourself for this." Max said, gesturing towards the small white dog.

Moynihan managed to find her voice long enough to say in a shaky voice, "I-I know...It's just that I..." But her voice trailed off after that.

"It's just that..what...?" Fiona asked carefully, releasing her grip on Moynihan and leaned back to look at her in the face. "What's wrong, Ms. M?" She placed a hand on her shoulder when the teacher didn't say anything and turned her head away. Fiona frowned with concern. The look on Moynihan's face held not only depression, but something else. It looked almost like..familiarity... "..did something happen?" Fiona whispered under her breath, just audible enough for the teacher to hear her.

At first, Moynihan didn't respond. Seeing Caruso on the floor like this brought back many painful memories of her past. She had long hoped to forget about them and move on. Now she was brought back into that painful state thanks to this. She slowly looked over at Fiona and the other kids one by one. They looked at her sympathetically, and moved in a little closer. She exhaled slowly, feeling bad that she was only making them feel worse.

"I'm..sorry.. I'm not sure if.." Joanne started to say, unsure if she should tell them her story. She didn't want to hurt them even more mentally.

"It's okay..." Max spoke softly, kneeling down next to Moynihan. "You can tell us anything... Did something happen to you?"

Moynihan looked away, eyes closed. "Yes..something like this did happen to me before..." The kids' eyes widened as she admitted this.

"What...?" Fiona whispered softly. She gently placed an arm around Moynihan to try and console her. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"What happened?" Buzz asked.

"I didn't tell you what happened..." Moynihan said sadly. "..because I didn't want to hurt you. You kids are young...too young to be heartbroken with this... That's why I wish I tried so much harder to..protect you all... I didn't want you all to suffer the same pain as I did when I was still a Velociraptor." She wiped away a tear. "I had told myself I wouldn't let anyone else I care about suffer that fate. But I failed to uphold my promise..."

"What happened...?" Rodger asked, repeating Buzz's question for him.

"Yeah...you can tell us..." Fiona said.

Joanne Moynihan hesitated for a while. She looked at each of the kids' faces. They were looking at her expectantly. They really wanted her to tell them the story. She couldn't understand why. Wouldn't they just make themselves feel worse by listening to her story? No..she would make them feel worse by telling them the story. But then she remembered that humans were largely motivated by love and compassion, one of the reasons she had turned against Victor. The kids knew they might make themselves feel worse, but they weren't thinking about themselves right now. They were thinking about her, the teacher, and they only wanted to make her feel better.

"All right..." Moynihan said, giving in. "I'll tell you..." She drew in a deep breath and began to tell her story as the children leaned in a bit to listen to her tale. "It happened when I was just an adolescent Velociraptor. My pack was..well it wasn't very big, but it wasn't very small either. My mother was the leader of the pack. I never knew my father...which didn't bother me too much at the time.. Velociraptors don't have the same level of compassion as you humans do. Anyway, one day we started to move to another location. Prey in our region was getting rather low and, following our instincts, we followed a migrating herd of ceratopsians, which were our favorite, if not most dangerous, prey. But along the way, we were suddenly...cut off by a Tyrannosaurus Rex."

Max gulped as she said that. "Oh..." He managed to say, rubbing his throat nervously. He was not liking where this was going.

Moynihan continued, "The Tyrannosaurus Rex stood directly in our path. We didn't understand why it was doing this. We were not its favorite prey and more suitable targets were close by, the Triceratops. We tried to find an alternate path around the big creature and escape, but the T-Rex made its intentions clear. It wasn't interested in hunting the Triceratops. It wanted to hunt us. It roared in our faces and started to give chase. Being smaller, our first instinct was to turn around and run. We had nothing to guard so we would not gain anything by attacking. We managed to escape the gaping jaws of that T-Rex. I had taken another path, between tall thick grass. I continued to run before I realized that no one in my family was following me. I quickly turned and ran back the other way to see they were."

"I thought Velociraptors couldn't love..." Buzz muttered under his breath, thinking about Victor.

"Shhh!" Fiona elbowed him.

Moynihan nodded towards Buzz. "I never said we couldn't love.. I just said we don't have attachments quite like yours. You see, we have to live life like everyday was our last day. We had to quickly move on and not allow our emotions to get in the way. But sometimes..some of us.. have emotional bonding stronger than normal, at least for Velociraptors." She then decided to continue on with the story. "Anyway, I saw them running away from the T-Rex. He had ignored me, since I was in an area where it could not see me well, and went after my family, who were still out in the open. I wanted to do something to help them, to distract the T-Rex. But...alas, I couldn't react quickly enough. The Tyrannosaur was leading them straight into a trap, and I was too far to warn them. They were heading towards a thick growth of trees, and waiting between an opening was a second T-Rex. By the time my family knew what was about to happen, it was too late. The second Tyrannosaurus burst throw the trees. Before my family could react, it was already upon them with its jaws."

"Oh man..." Rodger said, looking to the ground as he listened to what the woman was saying. "You lost your entire family..to that T-Rex ambush?"

Moynihan slowly shook her head. "No...not everyone. Out of the ten that made up our pack, about three of them managed to escape the T-Rexes. I managed to reach them in time and lead them away from the T-Rexes. While I was a Velociraptor at the time, the event did mentally scar me and the survivors... I was in denial for days, or maybe weeks. My two sisters and grandmother, the only ones who survived the slaughter other than myself, recovered much quicker and were trying their best to keep the remaining pack alive. They saw my emotional distraught as a set back and were considering kicking me out. Now before you say anything, that was the way things were dealt with back then. Dinosaurs couldn't afford letting emotions control them for too long. If a dinosaur remains emotionally distraught for an extended period of time, they're often driven away for the group's sake. Dinosaurs under the control of negative emotions often attract predators, or make hunting more difficult." Moynihan took in a deep breath before continuing, "However I wasn't driven away. Instead, another dinosaur joined the pack, and he brought me out of my depression."

"Oh really? Who was that?" Max asked.

"..Victor Veloci..." Moynihan said hesitatingly. As the kids looked at her in shock, he nodded slowly. "Yeah..I know... He was..so different back then. But that's probably because 'hairless monkeys' weren't running the planet back then. He quickly became my...mate with my grandmother's approval. Victor had become the leader of the pack and, with his help, we quickly grew in strength."

"..if this story is supposed to be sad, then why..." Fiona asked, sounding confused.

"This story doesn't sound like something that would hurt us.." Max said. The T-Rexes killing her family did sound sad, but as Moynihan continued, it only seemed to get better and better. Then he realized something. There must have been more to the tale. "...Did something else happen?"

Moynihan slowly nodded her head. "I am afraid so, dear. Not long after Victor joined, there was..another incident with the T-Rexes. The very same that attacked my family only weeks prior. They had tracked us down to our den where we were sleeping. Victor woke me up and started to nudge me away, towards a back entrance. I didn't understand why at first, but then I saw a bloody mess where one of my sisters used to be. A massive green body filled my vision and I could just make out my grandmother being attacked when Victor pushed me away and we were outside. Victor and I took off, making sure we were heading downwind so that the Tyrannosaurs could not track us down by scent. It took until we had run for a very long time before the gravity of the situation started to weigh me down."

"Oh man..." Fiona whispered. "I'm so sorry..."

"I know you are dear..but you should not be sorry. You weren't there when it happened.." Moynihan wiped away her tears as the terrible memories came back to her. They were even painful knowing Victor was a part of them. He had seemed so caring back then. The thought of him betraying her in the way that he had made her heart ache. Sometimes, she recalls the love she used to share with him when he was her mate. He would have made a caring fatherly figure if that meteorite hadn't struck the planet only a couple years later. For all that time, it had been just her and Victor and together, they outwitted the other predators as well as their prey. They had made such a great team. Sometimes she wondered why they had split apart.

Moynihan was suddenly surprised when she felt Fiona hug her tightly again. She slowly smiled and wrapped her arms around her. Then she felt the other kids hug her as well. Moynihan couldn't keep her smile down. It did make her feel better knowing that they cared and wanted to help her and each other recover from the past..and the present. Moynihan looked over at Caruso. Her eyes watered as she thought about what he had been through and the pain he had suffered. "I'm sorry Caruso...I'm so very sorry..." She looked away, letting her tears fall.

Upon mentioning Caruso's name, Fiona's eyes watered. "Caruso..." She hugged Moynihan tighter, pressing her face against her shoulder as she started to cry again. The mention of their deceased friend's name caused anger and an increased desire for revenge to rise up in the boys. But they dare not say anything. They didn't want to upset Moynihan and Fiona even further. But they made a silent promise to each other. When they find Victor, they will kill him. They will kill him for killing their best friend. He was not going to get away with this.

Kista raised up an arm and started knocking at the door to Zoom's apartment room. She had spoken with Peter and completed her mission, if she could even call it that. Peter seemed surprised at some of the details, but overall he kept a straight face. When Kista had questioned him about Zoom, claiming to have seen him walking down the hallway when she was about to enter his room, Peter explained the situation to her and what Zoom could offer to Victor's cause. But even though he was trying to be supportive of his friend, Peter sounded slightly reluctant, as if he didn't completely agree to Zoom's plan. Kista asked Peter where Zoom lived so she could speak to him in person and, after a few moments' hesitation, he gave her his address.

Although she had overheard much of the conversation back at the hospital, she was still skeptical on whether or not Zoom could be of any real help. So he exposes them to the public. Big deal. How was that going to benefit Victor? If anything, it would make things even worse for him. Everyone would be after the dinosaurs then.

She immediately snapped back into attentiveness when she heard the door knob turn and open up. Zoom took one look at her and frowned. "Hello..." He said suspiciously. "...who are you?"

Kista cleared her voice and placed a hand on her chest. "Greetings. My name is Kista Bakar. I had spoken to Peter and I..."

"..why were you in that hospital room?" Zoom said, eyes narrowed. "You don't even know Peter..."

"Says you." Kista said vainly, rolling her eyes. "I've worked with Peter before."

Zoom's frown slowly faded. The mention of Victor caught his attention and it made him reconsider what he was about to tell this woman. "You..work for Victor?" He asked carefully.

Kista slowly nodded, pushing away her blond hair from her face. "Why...yes I do in fact." She gently shoved him out of the way as she walked into his apartment room and looked around. "Heh..nice place you have here. I think I'll make myself at home." She strode over towards a chair and sat down on it. She noticed she was sitting at the man's computer desk and took note of the expensive machinery sitting down, hooked up. On the monitor, it displayed a clear head shot of a tan Spinosaurus. "Fancy computer you have here." She said, lifting up a finger to press one of the keys.

Zoom's eyes widened and he held out his hand as he dashed towards the computer desk. "No! Don't press that button! You'll..." But it was too late. Kista pressed the key just hard enough to activate its command. The picture that was on display immediately disappeared. "...delete the picture..." He groaned.

Kista pretended to be shocked, placing her hand towards her mouth. "Oh dear, I'm sorry." She said sarcastically. "My finger slipped! I guess I must have butter fingers." She shrugged innocently, grinning towards Zoom, who was rubbing his forehead with frustration.

"Do you have any idea how long it took me to find that picture...?" Zoom asked in a dangerous tone. "And you just..deleted it, just like that! Now it's going to take me forever to find the other pictures!" He rubbed his head roughly, scratching at his scalp with his fingers as he struggled to keep his temper under control. "Why are you even here anyway? Came to delete all my hard work?"

Kista chuckled as she got up from the seat. "You are such a baby." She teased him, pressing a finger tip against the underside of his chin. "Do you always throw a little temper tantrum whenever someone plays with your toys?" She chuckled and turned and walked away a little to give the man some space. She turned around, hands behind her back in an almost innocent manner. "In all seriousness, I was simply curious to know how you could..benefit Victor with whatever plan you had."

"Really?" Zoom said, rubbing his chin with his hand where Kista had touched him. "Didn't Peter tell you?"

Kista nodded her head once. "Yes, he did mention it. But...I'm not so sure how it would help..." She leaned in a bit. "Do you care to explain?"

"W-Well I..." Zoom stammered, trying to come up with an answer for the blond woman standing before him. But try as he might, he just could not come up with a good answer. It wasn't really the answer that was the problem. He just couldn't think of a way to word it without it sounding stupid or silly.

Kista smirked arrogantly, folding up her arms. Seeing Zoom struggling to answer like this was amusing her. "Tsk tsk tsk... you poor little benevolent imbecile..." She teased. "You can't think of anything to say can you?"

Zoom shot a look of shock at her. "What..did you just say?"

"You can't think of anything to say." Kista repeated herself, slowly shaking her head. "Which doesn't surprise me since..."

"No!" Zoom cut her off, waving his hands frantically in front of his body. "I didn't mean that! What did you just call me...?" He asked, narrowing his eyes a little. He placed his hands on his hips and waited for Kista to answer him.

"A poor little benevolent imbecile." Kista smirked almost playfully.

Zoom's initial reaction was anger. He was really not liking Kista right now. Who was she to go and insult him like that? Did she not know who he was? Then his emotion slowly melted into confusion at what Kista had just said. It made little to no sense at all. "...you do realize that didn't make any sense at all.. right?" He asked her cautiously.

Kista burst into laughter. "Of course it doesn't make sense to you. You aren't gifted with my superior intellect." She said, brushing her hair back with one hand.

Zoom snapped his head back, stunned. She couldn't be serious, could she? She couldn't possibly be that stupid, or could she? Zoom placed his hand on his face. Just what was Victor thinking when he hired this lunatic? But he couldn't focus too much on this little thing. He had something else to worry about. Kista wanted to know what services he could provide Victor and he might as well tell her. Despite her idiocy, she has ties with Victor and might be able to convince the billionaire to allow him to join the team.

"About my plan... hmm.. before I tell you..." Zoom moved in a little closer to Kista. He attempted to try and use his charm to convince Kista to say yes. "Do you think you can convince Victor to...let me join his gang, sweet cheeks?" He grinned softly, adjusting his glasses. As Kista leaned up against the wall to try and get away from him, Zoom placed his hand against the wall and leaned against it, continuing to give Kista a somewhat creepy grin. "If you say yes, maybe we could...get together sometime. Maybe dinner and a movie..."

Kista scowled at him and shoved him away somewhat roughly. "You scoundrel! Is that the way you treat all the ladies? Despicable!" She started to walk towards the door, a disgusted look spread across her face. "If you're going to act like this, then maybe you are not fit to be a part of Victor's team." She reached towards the door, intent on leaving the apartment and heading back home. She couldn't believe Peter had sent her here. The next time she saw him, she was going to have a word with him. But as she reached for the door handle, something stopped her. She began to reconsider her decision leaving. A small smile came on her face as she started to think that maybe Zoom does have potential after all. She looked over her shoulder slowly. "On second thought... maybe you could be of some use..."

With that, she turned around and walked back towards the blond man. She circled him a little, similar to a vulture would when it found a dead carcass. As she circled him, Zoom started to feel uncomfortable. Kista was starting to creep him out. Maybe this was why Victor had hired her. He probably shouldn't underestimate her again. Idiot or no idiot, she was intimidating, especially with the way she was looking at him. It was almost a look of hunger. Despite the fact that she was just another human, a woman to be exact, he couldn't help but feel a cold chill shoot up his spine as the woman grinned at him. He backed up against the wall and Kista got as close as she could to him without making physical contact with him.

"So..what about this..plan of yours?" Kista asked, her face close to Zoom's. "Do you care..to share, mister?"

"W-Well..." Zoom started to explain nervously. "You already know that I wanted to..expose the Dino Squad, right...?"

"And how could that benefit Victor?" Kista asked.

"Well..think about it." Zoom rubbing his hands together, managing to get away from Kista and walk away a little. "If the kids are exposed for what they really are, then everyone will be after them, especially if the kids are made to look like the bad guys. And if everyone is after them, with how rich Victor is, perhaps he could convince these people to catch the children, and offer a reward to whoever succeeds." He had thought this over as he sat down in his silent apartment. It sounded like a good plan to him. But he still wondered what Victor would think of it.

Kista's eyes turned up towards the ceilng and thought about what Zoom said. His plan sounded ridiculous at first. Just as she thought before, it would raise complications. It could expose Victor for what he really was and ruin the plan. Victor had worked too long and too hard to have his plans ruined just like that. But when she thought more about this idea of Zoom's, she started to realize it might actually be beneficial after all. Victor could be made into a hero of sorts. If Victor offered to destroy these nuisance dinosaurs, then the public would trust him more. Yes...it just might work. As crazy as it sounded to her, it could work.

Kista looked into Zoom's eyes and smiled somewhat darkly. "You know... you might not be as stupid as I thought you were..."

Zoom grinned and stood proudly. "Why thank you, ma'am. I appreciate..." Then he slowly realized what she was implying. Folding his arms, he scoffed, "Hey...!"

"But there is one thing I'd like to know." Kista leaned against the wall, her arms folded as well. "Just how are you going to pull it off? You know the public will expect more than pretty pictures to convince them of anything." She held out one hand. "And just how can you prove to the public, one hundred percent, that these kids are the dinosaurs, one and the same?"

"Well there is O'Ryan..." Zoom noted, raising a finger. "He is a..."

"Lunatic and disgraces the dinosaur name." Kista growled angrily. She had heard about O'Ryan and had checked out his program. But she ended up feeling cheated and felt angry after watching it because O'Ryan fakes almost everything, including the dinosaurs, and tells all kinds of lies to distort the truth and try, in vain, to fool people into thinking he was filming actual dinosaurs. But any one with half a brain could tell he was lying. "How could he possible help?"

"He and his cameraman are really good with camera's..." Zoom started to say. But he was cut off by Kista.

"Oh I'm sure they are..." Kista rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Thanks for that newsflash."

"Just listen to me!" Zoom growled, resisting the temptation to dig at his scalp as he tried to speak with this woman. Just what was her deal anyway? "Anyway, he could help capture footage of the dinosaurs. And he could bring the footage to me and I can edit it. With my photographs and his footage, we could prove to the public that these dinosaurs that have been spotted multiple times are, in fact, teenagers."

Kista scratched her chin thoughtfully. "Interesting plan, but... why would O'Ryan want to help you?"

"From what I have heard," Zoom explained. "O'Ryan is angry about some kids ruining his footage, from which he claimed to have had a kid transforming into a Tyrannosaurus Rex."

Kista cocked an eyebrow. "Oh really? He had a run in with the Dino Squad I presume?"

Zoom's eyes narrowed angrily as Kista mentioned the Dino Squad. "Yes..." He hissed under his breath. "And O'Ryan ain't the only one who wants a bone to pick with those brats. That punk kid will pay for humiliating me..." He clenched his fists tightly, shaking in anger. "He'll pay dearly..."

Kista giggled, her hand covering her mouth. "You're letting yourself get worked up over a child? How pathetic are you?"

Zoom's eyes narrowed angrily. "He ruined my work and...!"

Kista cocked an eyebrow and folded up her arms. "Excuse me? Your work?" She tried her best not to laugh. "From what I recall, you used someone else's photograph for your purposes. How does that count as your work?"

Zoom was startled that Kista knew about how he had gotten a photograph from someone else, that it wasn't his own photograph. He wanted to ask her how she knew, but then he thought better of it. She'd probably go on a rant or something. "Never mind that." He said, sitting back down in his chair and pulling himself towards the computer. "Now if you excuse me, I've got some work to do."

"Don't you want to see Victor?" Kista asked out of the blue, walking towards Zoom. The blond man swerved his chair over and looked at her in shock. The photographer was obviously not expecting her to offer him to meet with Victor personally. He thought he would have had to make a phone call to do that. Maybe he didn't need to ask for Victor's number after all. "I take it you are interested, right? Well hold on there, Speedy." She held up her hand, confusing Zoom at first. "Have you..set up an appointment...?"

"So I needed the number after all..." Zoom whispered under his breath, feeling somewhat disappointed. Then he spoke up, loud enough for Kista to hear, and said, "So do I need to call him now or..."

"You can call him now..if you want." Kista walked backwards a couple inches. "But you might want to be careful. Victor hates being disrupted from something..important." She grinned, looking almost mischievous.

Zoom rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure..whatever." He turned his chair towards the computer screen. The screen was black. He had turned the computer off a few minutes ago since he was not using it. He pulled out his cellphone and the piece of paper where he wrote Victor's number. He decided to call now before other things would come up and make him forget about calling Victor. But as he started to dial the number, something hard and solid struck him in the back. Zoom's eyes widened, his mouth dropping open as pain briefly registered. Then his eyes rolled back and the eyelids closed. He crumbled onto the desk, unconscious.

Standing behind him was Kista, who was gripping the photographer's camera in her hands. She grinned almost sinisterly towards the man. "Enjoy your sleep, my friend." She said as she set down his camera and strode over towards the prone shape in the chair. She playfully stroked his hair as her smile broadened almost evilly."When you wake up, you'll get your chance to speak with Victor..."

The room had remained silent for several minutes. The only sounds that could be heard were the sounds of breathing and the occasional, distant footstep. But the footsteps never grew louder, instead only becoming more and more faint until they could be heard no more. The kids were surprised that no one has come to investigate this room, or they would be if their minds were not on something else already. Caruso's death had been hard on them all, and Moynihan's dark story didn't make them feel any better either. A dark cloud had descended upon their minds and it didn't seem like it would clear up anytime soon. How could they recover quickly from something as awful as this?

The scent of death become a little stronger, but despite that, the kids hadn't moved far from Caruso's side. They remained at least a foot from him and tolerated the horrible smile his body was emitting. They didn't feel comfortable leaving him like that, and in this place too. He was their best friend. They wanted to do something, but what could they do? Nothing they do would bring Caruso back. And they all knew that, too. Mixed, mostly dark thoughts clouded their minds. They were devastated that they lost a best friend. They were angry that they couldn't get to him faster. They were vengeful, wanting to get back at Victor for what he'd done. But would it be worth it? Getting revenge on Victor might make them all feel better, but it wouldn't bring Caruso back.

Max contemplated this as he rubbed his forehead with one hand. He looked around the room. No one has spoken a word since Moynihan told her sad story. Fiona hadn't left Moynihan's side. The tomboy was holding onto her, her eyes closed as tears flowed from them. Moynihan and Fiona were trying to comfort each other, hugging each other to try and help the other to calm down. Max slowly turned his head towards Buzz. Buzz was staring blankly at the ground, his fingers fumbling with something, probably a small rock. Buzz was looking at his reflecting, thinking about when they all went to the tide pool that day. He closed his eyes and looked away.

Max then looked over at Rodger, who was staring at Caruso with a look of regret on his face. Max slowly got up to his feet and walked over towards the african-american, wanting to start a conversation with someone to end the silence. He sat down next to Rodger, but averted his eyes from Caruso. He couldn't bear to see Caruso like this, a shadow of his former self. And every time he looked at him now, he could only see Caruso's look of absolute shock when he scolded him so harshly not so long ago. That cold look he gave to Max, the way he spoke to him, that was permanently etched in Max's brain, and he could feel his stomach knot up in pain at the thought.

"Rodger..." Max spoke softly. Rodger looked up at Max, his eyes somewhat puffy and red, suggesting he'd been crying. Max couldn't think of what else to say. So he placed his hand on Rodger's shoulder to try and comfort him. Rodger just looked away.

"I couldn't stop myself..." Rodger mumbled under his breath.

"What...?" Max asked, leaning in a little to try and hear what Rodger was saying.

"Why didn't I stop myself..? Why did I keep on laughing...? Why didn't I get enough...?" Rodger continued to mumble, staring out into space as though he was lost in his own little world.

Max said, "Rodg..what's wrong..?"

"I'm a terrible person..." Rodger mumbled, somewhat louder than what he was saying before.

Max gripped the large teen by his shoulders and started to shake him. "Rodger, snap out of it! You're scaring me!"

Rodger quickly shook his head, blinking rapidly and his eyes opening up wide as though he'd been awakened from a bad dream or a horrible nightmare. He breathed in deeply and quickly, sounding like he was hyperventilating. He looked all around, as if he was regaining his senses of where he was. He looked over at Max and could see just how worried the jock was about him. Feeling guilty, he rubbed the back of his head nervously and said, "I'm..sorry about that."


	12. Home

"What happened? You were really zoning out there." Max asked. Rodger took one look at him as he asked that and slowly turned his head towards Caruso and nodded in his direction. "Oh..."

"I was just..thinking about... You remember when my...experiment failed...?" Rodger asked without looking at Max. Even though he wasn't looking, Rodger could sense that Max had nodded. He knew that Max would remember that incident. After all, it had effected all of them in someway, mostly thanks to pranks that Rodger himself had pulled later on as a form of revenge. Rodger hadn't realized just how childish he was acting until later on. He had nearly pushed the others too far. "..well I was just..thinking about what I did to Caruso..." His eyes closed as he tried to fight back the tears. "I was..so cruel to him..."

Max looked at Rodger sympathetically and wanted to hug him to console him, but refrained from doing so because he thought it would look and feel awkward. But he wanted to do something to try and help Rodger feel better. "Rodger...we all have regrets." It was all he could come up with to say.

"B-But you didn't break him..like I had.." Rodger stammered, inhaling sharply as he stifled a sob. "You didn't make him run out of a classroom because of a stupid prank..." He placed his face in the palm of his hand.

"I did yell at him..." Max said, drawing in a long, soft breath as he recalled what happened. "I said things that I had bottled up inside..for so long... I never meant to let them out like that... I didn't mean to hurt him like I had." He slowly closed his eyes, placing his face in the palm of his hand. He felt a stinging pain in his stomach as he remembered what he had said to Caruso. "I only wish that I had the chance to..properly apologize."

"Yeah..." Rodger said, eyes narrowing a little. He spoke in a somewhat angry voice. "You were harsh on him."

"Don't remind me." Max looked away.

"I'm sorry..." Rodger said, turning his head away as well. "I didn't mean to..come off like that...I guess I'm just..not feeling like myself."

"Neither am I." Max responded, agreeing with Rodger. "I don't think any of us will..feel the same for a while, if ever again."

The two friends sat down in silence, not daring to look at each other. Buzz looked over and saw them, sitting there and talking for a little while before growing silent again. Wanting someone to talk to, he slowly got up onto his feet and walked over to them. He stopped within about a foot away from them and sat down, feeling a little better to be in close company of others. He struggled to find the words to say, but nothing was coming to mind. He would open up his mouth to speak, but no words would come out. What could he say anyway? There was nothing he could say that he felt would make them feel better.

When Buzz thought of something to say, he turned his head towards Rodger and Max. He said, "Man...I...I wish there was..something we missed." It was true too, and he knew everyone else was thinking the same thing. Rodger and Max turned to look at the punk kid and nodded once, agreeing with what he was saying.

"I know...but there's nothing that..." Suddenly Max stopped his sentence short, his eyes widened a bit as he remembered something, something important. Buzz and Rodger tried to snap him out of his trance, but to no avail. They tried talking to him, but he wasn't responding. His mind was being filled with thoughts and memories pertaining to Moynihan and her science class. There was one lesson in particular that was sticking out in his mind, and it could turn this whole thing around. Moynihan was talking about how wolves would disguise their scent so that other animals wouldn't know they were wolves. He slowly turned towards Caruso and started to wonder if the death scent was his own or...

"Max...?" Rodger asked, placing his hand on his shoulder. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah..." Buzz said in a concerned voice.

Max didn't answer them. Instead he immediately got off the ground swiftly and turned towards Moynihan. "Moynihan!" He called out. When he saw that he got her, and Fiona's, attention, he continued, "Could you sniff Caruso again?"

The question made everyone stare at him in shock. Moynihan snapped her head back, shaking her head as she was in complete disbelief that Max would ask him something that morbid. "Why...? All it will prove is..."

"Just do it!" Max almost demanded. His voice had a strong sense of urgency. "Please..."

Releasing Fiona and standing up, Moynihan looked at Max with a mixture of confusion and anger. "Maxwell...how dare you ask me to do such a thing..." She said, doing her best to keep herself from getting too angry. She felt somewhat offended that Max would ask her to scent Caruso again, even after she had already done so with no good news. "How could you even think of asking me that...?" She asked him in a soft voice.

"Yeah...what are you, some kind of sadistic person or something?" Fiona said, her eyes narrowed and her arms folded tightly against her chest.

"I know..it sounds weird..." Max admitted, feeling guilty about asking in the manner that he head. "But..just listen to me... Ms. M, don't you remember when you gave us that lesson..the lesson about the wolves?" Moynihan nodded slowly, her eyes still narrowed in confusion, though her anger was starting to melt away a little. "And how they disguise their scent to confuse other predators as well as their prey?"

"Where are you getting at?" Moynihan asked.

"What if this horrible smell...isn't Caruso's?" Max asked urgently. "What if it's not his..scent of death? What if..it's something else?" He knew he was probably just doing some wishful thinking. He knew that Moynihan, being a Velociraptor, couldn't possibly mistaken another scent for death. She was a predator and had probably smelled this scent more times than she cared to count. But maybe there was still a chance that it wasn't Caruso who was emitting that scent, but something else...

"Max..that sounds so.." Fiona started to say.

"Ridiculous? I know." Max finished her sentence for her. But he wasn't deterred. "But what if there's a chance that..the scent isn't his? What if..Victor wanted us to think he was dead? I mean think about it. What if Victor found out we were coming and wanted to find some way to make sure that we wouldn't leave with Caruso. And what better way than to fool us into thinking he's dead?"

"But..." A voice said behind him. Max turned around to see Rodger and Buzz walking towards him. Buzz was the one who had spoken up. "...how could he fake a scent like this?"

Max held up his hands and arms, shrugging. "Well, he has a lot of chemicals, doesn't he? Couldn't he just..fake the scent somehow?"

"As much as I'd like to believe your claim," Moynihan said, slowly shaking her head. "I'm afraid that I find it hard to do so...I..." She was caught off guard when Max gripped her arm firmly, but gently at the same time. He looked up at her with wide, pleading eyes, and she had a hard time looking away.

"Just..please...do it..." Max begged.

Moynihan hesitated for a few seconds before giving a soft exhale. "All right then..." She said, turning away from Max and made her way towards Caruso. She did her best to ignore the smell that was filling her nostrils. She could feel anxiety and fear rise up inside of her as she drew closer and closer to Caruso's prone body on the ground. When she reached him, she knelt down beside him and leaned in a little. She took in a few deep breaths, the death scent almost as strong as it was when they came in here. But her human form wouldn't be able to tell her much. She closed her eyes and when she reopened them, she was a Velociraptor once more.

Once again, she sniffed at Caruso. She was feeling rather strange about doing this. But she carried out Max's task. While she had her doubts of his claims, part of her hoped that he was right. As she continued to sniff at Caruso, she did realize that something was rather off about the scent that clung around Caruso. Her eyes widened a little and she pushed her snout in closer, sniffing a little harder as if she were in shock by what she discovered. Her heart started to thump harder. She was noticing a decrease in the scent. The scent of death shouldn't decrease, she thought. It should only get worse as the process of decay sets in. It would only decrease completely after the body was almost completely destroyed. The only way that the scent would vanish before the body could decompose was if..the victim was still alive.

Feeling excited about this discovery, she turned her long head towards the group to deliver the news. But before she could say anything to the others about this sudden revelation, she felt something move at her feet. She looked down to see Caruso's foot against hers. Her eyes widened a little. The foot wasn't there just seconds ago and she hadn't done anything to move Caruso's body. Her feelings were further increased when she realized Caruso must have moved that leg on his own. She lowered her head towards his face, looking at his closed eyes. She pressed her snout gently against his head, taking in a few sniffs, this time scenting no death, but just Caruso himself.

She almost jolted when she felt something press against her snout. Although she could barely focus, she recognized the object as Caruso's hand. She looked back down at his face and noticed a smile had crept over it. Caruso's eyes slowly fluttered open, halfway. Unfocused eyes looked up at her, and the smile broadened slightly, although weakly.

Caruso slowly opened up his mouth to speak, taking in a few weak breaths as he did so. Judging from the look on his face, this once simple task was now torture for him."W-What do you know...?" Caruso managed to say in a feeble voice. "I'm..I'm so h-handsome.. I-I-I'm even attracting...d-dinosaurs..." He coughed a few times and his eyes closed once again.

Moynihan was, at first, at a loss of words, stunned at hearing Caruso's voice for the first time since that horrible day when the lighthouse was under attack. Quickly the reality of the situation sank in, and she couldn't control the overwhelming feeling of happiness and relief that she was feeling inside her. Without saying a word, she transformed back, and with a huge grin on her face, she wrapped her arms around Caruso and held him up. Caruso grunted slightly in pain but didn't object to the gesture. Moynihan continued to smile as tears of happiness flowed down her face.

"A-A-And it l-likes me too..." Caruso whispered, managing a weak smile.

"CARUSO!" The others cried out in unison, elated. Words couldn't describe what they were feeling right that second. They stood up immediately, but hesitated. They hoped that this wasn't a trick. They hoped that nothing bad was going to happen this time. Unable to control their emotions, they ran towards Moynihan and Caruso. One by one, they wrapped their arms around the two, creating one big group hug. Rump barked happily and ran circles around the group, his tail wagging so fast it looked like it was going to rip off. They all began crying happily, a few laughing a little as it felt like a huge weight was being lifted up off their shoulders. Caruso didn't try to struggle, feeling too weak to move much.

"Caruso, you're alive!" Fiona cried, her eyes filling with tears of joy. "I'm so glad you're all right..." She whispered.

Filling with excitement, without realizing what she was doing, she planted a quick kiss on his cheek. Caruso looked at her, a little surprised, but didn't say anything. Everyone else was just as surprised, but decided not to say anything, believing that Fiona was just so worked up and so happy Caruso was alive that she couldn't help herself. Caruso managed to give a weak smile and said in a joking manner, "..l-looks like I'm not just attracting dinosaurs..."

"Don't ever do that again!" Max shouted angrily, but from the tone of the voice, it was clear that he wasn't really angry, just very relieved. He wanted to apologize to Caruso now, but he knew he would have to wait. Caruso was still badly hurt and he needed medical attention, and fast.

"You gave us quite the scare, yo!" Rodger said, ruffling Caruso's hair playfully, but gently at the same time.

Caruso winced a little, but not in pain. "Please...p-please..don't m-mess w-with my..my hair...Rodger..." He whispered weakly, trying to raise his hand to push Rodger's hand away. But due to the lack of strength, it just fell limply at his side once again. Rodger just smiled and pulled his hand away. Same old Caruso, he thought.

Buzz smiled as he looked at Caruso. "So...do you want a rematch?" He asked, referring to the online game Rodger had designed. While Caruso made no verbal response, his nonverbal response was a smile. Buzz took that as a yes and his own smile broadened.

Caruso was, at first, grateful for the hugs he was receiving and was enjoying the moment, feeling secure and happy for the first time in almost twenty-four hours. He received no such comfort while he was staying with Victor. He didn't realize just how much he'd miss human interaction, being in the company of friends and family, even though he had only been away for about a day. The touch of his friends was a welcome gesture for him, having felt only pain and misery for hours upon hours. But he slowly realized the others were hugging him a little tightly. His eyes widened in pain. He knew they were very happy to see him, but if they didn't let up, they wouldn't be happy for long. They were hugging so tightly that he was having trouble breathing and he started to struggle a little, despite his pain.

"I-If you don't..stop squeezing me so tightly..." Caruso said through short, gasping breaths. "...I really am going to die..." Immediately, the kids let go, releasing the pressure they had been unintentionally putting on his ribcage and stomach. Moynihan loosened her grip, but not too much because she didn't want to let him fall to the ground. Instead, she slowly knelt down, gently setting Caruso back on the ground. She released him and took a step back, giving him some breathing room. "Thanks..."

"Caruso..." Moynihan asked gently. "Can you walk?"

"I-I'll try..." Caruso slowly struggled to get onto his feet. Progress was painfully slow and his legs wobbled constantly, lacking the strength they once had. But nonetheless, he managed to stand on his own, his feet planted firmly on the ground. He held out his arms and hands to try and keep his balance as he lifted up one foot to try and walk. But as he set the foot back down, a searing pain shot up his side where he received a wound from the mutant mole. He gasped in pain and took an involuntary step back to try and escape it. But this caused him to accidentally hit his head lightly against one of his friends. Eyes bulged open as he cried out in pain and he fell back onto his knees, trembling in agony. He tried to press his hand against the wound on his head, another on his side. But the pain was unbearable and he immediately pulled them away. "So..much...pain..." He managed to say.

Fiona rushed forward. "Caruso! Are you okay?" She asked him as she carefully grabbed his arm and tried to pull him up. But unfortunately, she didn't notice the long cut on Caruso's arm, the first cut he had received while under Victor's supervision.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Caruso cried out, trying to pull his arm away from Fiona. "DON'T TOUCH ME THERE!"

Fiona gasped as she realized what she was doing. She immediately released Caruso, allowing him to drop down onto his knees once more. "Caruso, I'm so sorry!" She said immediately in an apologetic tone. Feelings of guilt welled up inside of her and she started feeling angry at herself for doing such a thing without checking to make sure there were no injuries there.

"I-I-It's all right..." Caruso managed to say under his breath.

"So..what are we going to do...?" Buzz asked, looking at Max and Moynihan for some answers. "He can't walk... how are we going to get him to help?"

"One of us could carry him..." Rodger suggested.

"That's a good idea." Max said. "But how would it work? All of our dinosaur forms are too big for Caruso to climb on, and I don't think he has the strength to hang on once we get going. And he's too big for us to carry in human form..."

"I'll carry him." Moynihan stepped forward.

Max looked at her leg and asked cautiously, "..are you sure you want to do that?"

Moynihan lifted up her leg and took a look at it before setting it back down. "Don't worry. My leg is fine. Caruso's parents gave me medicine for it. I'll be able to carry Caruso." When Max continued to give her a concerned look, she offered a smile to try and reassure him. "Really, it's okay. Now then..." She turned her head towards Caruso. "Do you think you'll be able to hang onto me?"

"S-Sure..no p-problem.." Caruso said.

"Good." With that, Moynihan transformed into a Velociraptor. She knew she would have difficulty running away if she only used her arms to hold him. But if Caruso were riding her, it would be easier, at least on her. She wasn't sure how well Caruso would be able to handle riding her while he was injured. But this was the only option she could see that just might work. She slowly walked towards Caruso. She lowered her self to the ground, getting as close as possible to Caruso without touching him. She gestured for Caruso to climb up on top of her. The boy hesitated at first, looking up at her in fear, as if he was remembering something terrible. But he quickly snapped out of it and slowly climbed on top of Moynihan. He wrapped his arms around her long, muscular neck and held on as tightly as he could. Once she was sure Caruso was secure, Moynihan turned towards the other teenagers. 'Let's head back to the lighthouse.'

"Sounds like a good plan." Max said as the group started to make their way towards the exit. Max was glad that they were finally heading back to the lighthouse. He was starting to get sick of being here, in this terrible place. And he was growing increasingly concerned about Caruso. Many of his injuries looked severe and would need medical treatment. And he wasn't sure how they were going to treat the cuts inside his mouth.

"Should we go dino?" Rodger suggested. He was looking around the place in a nervous manner. He kept thinking he heard things, but in the end it turned out nothing was there. Still, he didn't want to take the chance. Michelle might have called in reinforcements. This could still be a trap. He looked left to right, expecting a trap to appear out of nowhere. "We might have a better chance getting out of here if we do.."

"But wouldn't that just draw attention to ourselves?" Fiona asked, slowly shaking her head. She wanted to get out of this place, but she also didn't want to risk themselves getting caught. She felt they should think of another way of getting out of here quickly. Plus they also have equipment they needed to put onto the SUV, where ever Moynihan put it, that is.

"But what if we are ambushed before we could get out?" Rodger asked. He then gestured towards Moynihan and Caruso. "If Victor finds out that Caruso's gone, wouldn't he go beserk and go after us...?"

"What if he doesn't?" Fiona asked.

"I don't think it'll take him long to find out, Fiona." Rodger said. "I mean, it's not like he's never going to find out.. We should..."

"Should what? Risk messing this up by..." Fiona started to say.

"Will you too stop fighting?!" Buzz snapped, moving in quickly in between the too. Everyone was surprised by this, especially Max. The jock was going to interfere himself. He wasn't expecting Buzz to step up to the plate. And he was especially surprised at how angry Buzz sounded. Well he probably shouldn't be that surprised, not after what he's seen when he was with Michelle, anyway. "Do you really want to waste time arguing over something like this?! Let's just go before Victor catches on to us and sends his oozer losers here!"

"Buzz is right." Max said. "Please don't argue about this. Right now, our top priority is getting Caruso to safety. How we do it, I don't care. Let's just go, now!" His voice was filled with a strong sense of urgency and determination. The others nodded towards him, acknowledging his order. For a few seconds, Max thought that he had everything settled, but then he saw Fiona and Rodger glare at each other again. Max slowly shook his head. They aren't going to argue again, were they...?

"I still say we should go dino. We'll leave this horrible place faster that way." Rodger said sternly.

Fiona growled. "And I still say we'll just be asking for trouble that way."

Rodger narrowed his eyes. "I thought you liked speed!"

"Not when it could potentially risk our safety!" Fiona responded, her voice growing a little louder as she was becoming more and more frustrated with Rodger. "What are you, some kind of reckless oaf?!"

Rodger's eyes widened a little. "What..." A scowl reappeared on his face. "Do you really think I am throwing caution to the wind?! Do you really think I'm so careless that I would do anything to get something done, even at the cost of another's life?!"

"Guys.." Max said, walking towards the two. "Not now..please..." He wanted to try and calm them down. "Let's just try to reach a negotiation and..."

But Fiona and Rodger weren't in a negotiating mood. At the same time, they quickly swerved over towards Max and shouted, "STAY OUT OF THIS!" Max was shocked by this, and took a step backwards. He was confused. He couldn't understand why they would yell at him like that, and especially when he was only trying to help too. He felt hurt and a little angry at the same time. Rodger and Fiona didn't seem to notice. They turned back towards each other and continued with their arguing.

Max walked towards Moynihan. "We'll never get out of here if those two keep on arguing."

'Then why don't you talk to them?' Moynihan suggested.

"They won't listen to me." Max said, sounding completely frustrated.

'They should.. You are the leader after all, are you not?' Moynihan asked, tilting her green head to the side. 'A good team cannot be without a good leader.'

Max slowly nodded his head. "Yeah..I know..." But he was still feeling unsure about himself. He looked back over to Rodger and Fiona. The fight wasn't going to let up anytime soon, and he knew they didn't have that kind of time to spare. He looked back towards Moynihan, and then looked at Caruso's face. Caruso smiled at him, but Max could still see the fear and pain in the boy's eyes. Caruso wouldn't have lasted much longer with Victor, and if he caught him again, he didn't want to think about what might happen. Max narrowed his eyes. He knew he would have to try, for Caruso's sake. He turned around and made his way towards Fiona and Rodger.

"Why are you antagonizing me?!" Rodger shouted bitterly. "I'm just trying to help!"

"And your help is going to get us all captured, you idiot!" Fiona snapped.

"No it's not!" Rodger protested. "I would never suggest a plan that had a high risk of us getting captured!"

"What about that incident back at the school with the holographic mutantsaurs?" Fiona asked in a low voice.

Rodger snapped his head back, looking at Fiona with a shocked look on his face. That statement really hit a nerve. It has been a while since that had incident had occurred. Why did she have to bring it up now? He admitted he made a mistake. But there was nothing he could do to change what he did. He never meant for them to get almost captured by Veloci. How was he to know it was a trap? Fiona had went too far with what she said, but Rodger couldn't think of any sort of comeback to deliver. He just stood there, speechless.

"All right, that is enough!" Max shouted as he stood between the two arguing teenagers. They looked at him in anger and were about to say something, but they immediately shut their mouths when Max continued to yell. "I'm sick of seeing you two argue like this, and of all times, too! Caruso is injured and needs help, and all you guys care about doing is argue about what to do! Now is not the time to argue! Now either get your act together and agree on something or I'll decide for you! As your leader, I am not asking you. I'm telling you!"

Fiona and Rodger stared at Max, stunned by his sudden snap. They looked at each other for a few seconds, as if they were seeing if the other heard the same thing, almost hoping they were imagining it. Max hadn't snapped like that since he'd snap at Caruso. They looked back at Max, their eyes narrowed at first. They were angry that Max had interrupted their discussion, or argument as some might see it as. But they did realize that their leader was correct. They weren't going to get anywhere arguing, and all they've been doing was wasting time. What had gotten into them? They looked to the ground, slowly feeling ashamed about what they were doing.

"We're sorry..." Fiona and Rodger said in unison.

Max's expression softened and he groan softly, turning his head away a little. "Oh...I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to snap at you like it. It's just that..." He felt his voice fade away as he became unable to think of a response. He opened up his jaws to try again, but stopped when Rodger held out a hand, signaling him to stop.

"It's okay." Rodger said calmly. "You were right. We shouldn't be arguing."

"Yeah..." Fiona said, agreeing with what Rodger said.

Without responding to them, Max turned to Moynihan once again. He wasn't sure if he should be the one to decide if they should go dino or not. Moynihan had turned into a dinosaur herself, so maybe it would be a good idea. But then, the more dinosaurs there are, wouldn't that increase the chances of Victor finding them? Multiple targets increased the chances of one of them getting captured. But then again, in dinosaur form, they could more easily defend themselves and have a better chance of escape. And more importantly, it would help get Caruso back to the lighthouse quicker and safely.

He still decided to ask Moynihan for her opinion on these two choices. Max asked, "Professor Moynihan, which idea do you think could work better? Going dino or getting out of here in human form?"

Moynihan lifted her raptor head back a little, tilting it from side to side in a bird-like manner as she thought about this. At first, she didn't know why Max was asking her. He was the leader, so he should be the one to decide ultimately on which course of action to take. But she sensed the boy still felt a little lost and uncertain of himself. She didn't see anything wrong with him seeking help. That's a good leader quality, knowing when to seek help from others and ask for others' input.

'Well they both had very valid points.' Moynihan said, eyeing Rodger and Fiona. 'It might be safer to go dino if we want to get out of here faster, and have an easier time defending ourselves. But on the other hand, as Fiona pointed out, going dino might increase the chances of us getting spotted and having one of us captured.' She closed her eyes to think about an answer, but she was having a difficult time coming up with one. Both ideas had flaws that could have dark consequences. They either risk losing another one of their own to Victor or Caruso's death. 'I can see why Rodger and Fiona couldn't decide. Both ideas sound good, but they both could have dangerous results if they are executed incorrectly, I'm afraid.'

"So..you're stumped too...?" Max asked softly, feeling a little disappointed.

'A little, I'm afraid.' Moynihan nodded her head. She turned her head to the side and gave Caruso a sideways glance. She could see the pain in his eyes and the scent of blood filled her nostrils. She started to think that Rodger's idea was the best course of action. Caruso needed the most attention out of all of them. If they went with Fiona's idea, they risk Caruso's death, either by getting attacked by Victor's men or taking too long to get help. Rodger's idea was just as risky, but they would be able to better defend Caruso and would get out faster. Once she made up her mind, she turned to Max. 'I feel Rodger's idea would be the best thing, although it is still risky.'

The teenagers didn't argue. They simply nodded in unison, and looked at each other as their eyes started to glow. The room illuminated with a bright glow for a brief second and quickly died down. Soon the room was filled with the silhouettes of large dinosaurs, roaring furiously. Suddenly, they thunderously stampeded out through the wall. Rubble and rocks rolled down the sides of the large gaping hole as the group ran out through the building. They ignored the alarms that were blaring and continued crashing through the walls until they were out of the building.

As they disappeared, a dark figure stepped through the large opening in the wall to the room where Caruso was once held prisoner. The figure remained in the shadows, moving slowly towards the cage, taking short, deliberate steps. Their arms are behind their back, almost like they were bound there. The figure stopped beside the large cage, coming into the light. It was Victor Veloci. He had come into the room alone. Oscura and Michelle were nowhere in sight.

Taking a few sniffs, Victor said, "Hmm..seems like they were here..." His eyes narrowed as he looked at the cage that was wide open and surveying the empty contents inside. He knelt down near the area where Caruso was laying. He was staring at a strange, liquid substance that accumulated in several, small places. It was like dew on the grass. The liquid was very shallow, like a raindrop, and was colored a pale red, almost the shade of blood. But it distinguished itself from blood by having a mild glow to it.

Victor reached out with a hand and gently dipped a fingertip into the liquid. He lifted his hand back up and sniffed the liquid a bit. He could smell the distinct odor of the substance. It was very close to the scent of death. He had coated much of Caruso in this liquid for one purpose. He transformed his head into a raptor's and leaned forward. He sniffed at the air above the liquid, and picked up the scent he'd been hoping he'd catch. He shifted back, and a sadistic smile spread across his face, feeling very satisfied with the results.

"It begins..." Victor said, chuckling softly at first before letting out several louder laughs, as if this situation was so funny that he couldn't help himself.

The laugh echoed throughout the warehouse, reverberating across the walls, sound increasing in volume, and it exited through the large openings that the Dino Squad had made. Some owls were startled by the laugh and took off in flight. It didn't take the sound long to reach Caruso's ears. Despite his pain, Caruso snapped his head up in fright, eyes wide with fear. He looked around, trying to find the source of the sound. Although he could not see anything, or hear anything now, he started to shiver in fear. He knew who that laugh belonged to. He had heard that laugh several times while he was held captured by Victor Veloci.

Caruso gripped Moynihan's neck a little tighter and whispered fearfully, "P-Please...d-don't let him get me..again..."

Moynihan turned her eyes to try and look at the boy riding on her back. Her usual dinosaur glare softened up a little as she sensed the boy's fear. Tilting her head down a little, she decided to say something that she hoped would help make him feel a bit better. 'Don't worry... you're safe with us. He won't get you ever again... I promise.'

Michelle slowly limped down one of the hallways in Raptor Dyne. Victor had ordered her to return here to discuss more of her punishment. Victor had struck her in the leg. He hadn't broken the skin, but he left a nasty bruise and it hurt to walk. Michelle winced with every footstep as she drew closer and closer to Victor's large room, full of liquid-filled cylinders accompanied by failed experiments. A few people she passed asked about her leg and some showed sympathy towards her. She didn't need to tell them it was Victor for them to know who did it. Michelle wondered why Victor felt the need to punish her more. Wasn't this darn bruise punishment enough?

She thought she was going to get away with this without harm. Victor might not have never known about it if she was very careful. But she did make a stupid move by chasing away Oscura. She should have known that Oscura would tell Victor about this, and twist the tale in any place she needed in order to get Victor angry with her. And since her actions threatened the plan that would ultimately lead to his victory, Victor was especially angry and wanted to make sure she wouldn't do it again. He said he won't eat her, but that didn't give her much comfort. She told herself that she would get Oscura back for this, somehow, someday.

When she reached the room, she stepped inside and sat down on one of the chairs. She took a look around the room. She was the only one in there at the time, so her only company was the monitoring equipment and the failed experiments. She looked at a few of them, many human-like in appearance, and scowled in disgust. She often wondered why Victor had all of these experiments here. Victor never really told her or Oscura what these creatures were exactly, other than failed experiments. Michelle could only guess that they were probably failed attempts in transforming humans and animals into dinosaurs. It would make sense.

She then glanced over at the monitoring equipment. The main computer was still on, along with the others. The multiple computer screens displayed mostly scans, colored a monochrome green. It was hard for her to read it, and she wondered how Victor could understand it. But he did design the equipment, so she probably shouldn't be surprised that he would be able to read it. She could see some blinking dots and she guessed that meant dino activity, and it was very close. Yeah, it had to be dino activity, more specifically the Dino Squad. Her thoughts went back to Caruso. She wondered if he was all right.

Something then caught her eye. A few of the monitors showed parts of the building. It was for security reasons, just like any other building. Victor set them up to help keep track of where his men were in the building and to make sure no one broke in. Despite his hatred of humans, Victor seems to have the same sense of insecurity as a human, or so Michelle thought. He wanted to make sure that no humans finds out he's a Velociraptor except the ones that work for him. Since the Dino Squad and possibly their families know what Victor actually is, Michelle started to wonder if Victor will find a way to deal with them. She gulped at the thought.

One monitor in particular caught her interest. It was of the rooftop of the building. This is where Victor would keep his helicopter stored. It was the same shade of red as Victor's skin in dinosaur mode, and the front of it was studded with sharp teeth to make it look more like a dinosaur. It surprised Michelle that no one found that suspicious. The same went for his truck. It also had a very dinosaur-like look to it, right down to the sharp teeth that decorated the front. It was like the guy was putting a label on himself and telling everyone to try and catch him. Michelle slowly shook her head as she thought about this. For a mad scientist, Victor isn't always so bright.

Michelle returned her attention to the monitor. Usually she would see the helicopter parked there since Victor didn't always use it. But now it was missing. Michelle narrowed her eyes. Why would the copter be missing? She didn't think Victor would use it because the warehouse was not that far away. His men couldn't have taken it unless they had a special key, which she knew Victor still had. She saw it in one of his shirt pockets not too long ago. And she was positives he saw the raptor copter before she left with Oscura. Michelle's eyes widened as she saw another signal on the monitor. She quickly took a guess at who it was.

"Victor..." If this was Victor in the helicopter, then he was moving in pretty fast behind the other dots, which she guessed was the Dino Squad. She told herself she could be mistaken about this, but part of her told her it was real, that she got it right. She gulped as she saw just how close he was getting to them. She quickly turned around, her eyes closed. She didn't want to see the outcome. She whispered one thing before walking away. "Good luck, Dino Squad."

"I think we are in the clear." Rodger said, looking back down at the dino tracker. So far he wasn't getting any signals. They were all in the SUV now. Moynihan was sitting in the driver's seat. She knew a particular stretch of road where Veloci's men are rarely spotted, so she decided to take that road, especially since she was the only one in the group who had taken this road before. Rodger was sitting in the passenger seat next to her, getting ready to fill in updates for her if the dino tracker detected anything. Max was sitting in the seat directly behind Moynihan while Buzz sat behind Rodger. In the very back seat were Fiona and Caruso. Everyone had their seat belts on, all except Caruso. Due to his injuries they thought it would be best he not wear a seat belt as the straps only dug into his injuries.

Max looked outside the window, scanning the horizon for any possible threats. Buzz was doing the same thing, although he was scanning the areas a bit faster and in a bit of a frantic motion. The two did know that the tracker wasn't picking up anything, and the others, except Caruso, had assured them that if the dino tracker picked up no signals, they should be safe. But one thing was on the two teens' minds. If Victor knew they had tracking equipment, he could easily cloak his own signal so that they wouldn't detect it. Max and Buzz didn't want to take any chances.

And they weren't the only ones a little paranoid. Caruso hadn't stopped shaking since they got in the SUV. Fiona tried to comfort him, but he kept looking away and pushing her away, complaining that it hurt when she touched him. He felt bad about the way he was acting, but he just couldn't help himself. Even sitting down sometimes hurt him. And he was constantly worried that Victor would show up at any moment to snatch him away. His eyes remained wide open as he looked at his surroundings, almost as if he doesn't truly believe he is where he was now. He was sometimes afraid to move in certain ways, afraid of feeling pain as if he was still wearing the bridle.

Feeling further distressed by Caruso's behavior, Fiona moved in again. She tried again to comfort him. She lifted up her arm and tried to wrap it around Caruso. But he just pushed her away again. She felt a little hurt by this reaction, but wasn't surprised by it. She then tried a more verbal approach. She leaned in towards him a little, keeping her distance as to not to frighten him. "Caruso..it's all right... you're safe now."

For the first time since they got into the SUV, Caruso looked at Fiona. His eyes were still wide, but they held more than just fear now. They also held disbelief. "How can you be so sure...? For all we know, Victor could be..." He stopped himself, shaking too much to continue his sentence.

Fiona sighed and slowly shook her head. "Caruso, will you stop worrying so much? Victor's not coming after you. I doubt he even knows you are gone..."

Caruso looked away. "You don't know that..."

Fiona's eyes narrowed a bit, feeling concerned. As Caruso was talking, he kept wincing in pain. She couldn't help but feel sorry for him. He still wanted to communicate vocally, but anytime he tried to talk he would be in great pain. The cuts in his mouth must be driving him insane. Fiona wanted to comfort him, but what could she do? If she tried to hug him again, he'd just push her away. She could tell, by the expression on his face and the look in his eyes, that it may take him a while to fully recover from this. Victor really did a toll on the poor boy, both physically and mentally.

Suddenly a shadow, darker than the area around which they were driving, casted over the SUV. Everyone looked up in confusion, except Caruso and Moynihan. Then, without warning, there was a loud crashing sound just to the left of the vehicle.

CRRRAAASH!

All of a sudden, the entire SUV rocked violently to one side, nearly tipping over completely. Everyone inside screamed as the SUV nearly fell over. Their equipment went flying through the car, some of it crashing against the walls, a couple even breaking. Buzz, Rodger, and Max gripped their seats as tightly as they could and Moynihan tightened her grip on the steering wheel, turning it left to right in a desperate attempt to right the yellow vehicle. Rump crashed multiple times against the walls, and finally transformed into his dinosaur mutant form and used his jaws to clamp down on one of the seats and hold himself in place.

Because Caruso was not buckled in, he nearly went flying against the side of the vehicle as well. Thinking fast, he turned to Fiona and wrapped his arms around her and held her tight, whimpering a little as the vehicle continued to tilt in one direction. Fiona hugged him back and held on, careful not to touch any of his injuries, which was not an easy task. Quickly, Moynihan managed to right the SUV, with all four wheels back on the ground once more.

Rubbing his head a little, Max immediately looked out the window to try and find the source of the attack. His eyes widened when he spotted something large and red coming down towards them again. "It's VELOCI!" He screamed.

"Veloci...?" Caruso whispered, hugging Fiona tighter. "See? I told you he'd come get me."

"We won't let him get you again. We'll escape...don't worry." Fiona whispered, gently stroking Caruso's hair to try and calm him down. Caruso responded by burying his head into her shoulder. Fiona tried to keep herself from crying as she felt her shirt getting a little wet, realizing Caruso was crying now. The poor guy must really be afraid, and she couldn't blame him.

"Hang on!" Moynihan declared. "I'll try to lose him!"

With that, she swiftly jerked the steering wheel to the right, turning onto another road that she just spotted. She looked at her rear view window outside the driver's seat and could see Victor's copter not far behind her. Her eyes widened as she notice the message on the window. 'Objects Are Closer Than They Appear' it read. Without warning, she immediately turned to the left. As she did so, she felt the SUV move slightly and a loud scraping sound filled the air as the helicopter pushed up against the SUV. It then rose up in the air again, but stayed close to the SUV, moving over to the other side. The helicopter moved in again, ready to ram the smaller vehicle. Moynihan reacted quickly and moved again, narrowly missing the ramming attack.

Victor hadn't given up yet. He continued to pursue the Dino Squad. He rose up a little higher to try and give them a false sense of security. As he allowed more and more distance between himself and the smaller vehicle, he was smiling to himself. He had no real intentions in recapturing the boy. He was only doing this to make his plan look more convincing. He didn't want them to realize what he was truly up to. He waited for a few minutes before he made his next move, hoping that he might get in a hit or two. He grabbed the copter's steering stick and pushed forward. The copter went in for a nose dive. The SUV, however, swerved again and he missed. He quickly pulled the stick up to avoid crashing into the ground.

Moynihan looked out of the window and looked up. She could see the copter off to one side of the van. While she couldn't see his face, she knew Victor was probably scowling down at her, or smirking because of his arrogance. She narrowed her eyes and turned her attention back on the road. She slammed into the gas pedal and picked up speed. The kids hung onto their seats a little tighter as the van was suddenly moving at around sixty miles per hour. Moynihan knew she was probably breaking the speed limit, but right now she didn't care about that. All she cared about was getting these children to safety.

"Why are you going so fast?!" Rodger screeched, gripping his seat tightly and clenched his teeth in fear. He was frightened at how fast they were going now, and just as frightened that Moynihan is the one driving like this. He would have expected this kind of reckless driving from one of his team mates, namely Fiona. But an old woman like Moynihan? It didn't add up.

"I'm trying to get Victor off our trail!" Moynihan said to Rodger, her teeth gritted as she gripped the steering wheel even tighter as she felt her hands getting sweaty.

Victor cocked an eyebrow as he noticed the van was moving at an incredible speed, for a vehicle that size anyway. This surprised him a bit, but he shook it off. He responded by moving his helicopter a little faster. He was at the speed advantage. He was in the sky while she was on the ground. He could easily catch up to her out in the open. The only chance she's have at escaping is if she were to find some dense cover, which none was available here. He looked straight ahead. In the far distance, he could see a dense population of trees along the sides of the road. He narrowed his eyes a little. Moynihan might lose him in there, but then again, she might continue driving on. She might not even realize what a help those trees would be to her.

He shrugged his shoulders. It didn't really matter to him either way. He would have his chance with Moynihan soon enough. He just needs to be patient. Pushing the stick forward again, he nose dived again, this time at a bit of a faster speed, hoping to catch her off guard. And this time he did. The helicopter's nose slammed against the back of the SUV. He couldn't hear anything except the sound of metal scraping and scratching alongside each other. As he road back up into the air, he smirked evilly. "You underestimate me, Joanne...You will be mine."

The SUV toppled over continuously, slamming against the ground with great force. Moynihan tried her best not to scream or close her eyes as she focused in trying to right the vehicle back on all four wheels. The children were wearing their seat belts at least, but she could hear their fear-filled screams echoing in her ears. Caruso tried his best not to topple over by hanging onto Fiona, who held him as best as she could, trying her best to save him from further injury. Moynihan tried as best as she could to right the vehicle, to not allow it to land on its side, but she felt like she was going fail, just like she almost failed Caruso.

No! She shouldn't give up! The kids in this van were counting on her to save them. She knew she must keep trying. She must not allow the SUV to land on its side, back, or front, or they would all get easily captured by Victor Veloci. She gritted her teeth. No, not this time, Veloci, she thought. She took a quick glance behind her, seeing the frightened teens as they held on for dear life. Poor Rump was starting to lose his grip, his eyes wide with fear as well. And the equipment was flying everywhere, occasionally hitting one of her students. Moynihan turned her attention back towards the road. She turned the wheel roughly to the right and then to the left and kept repeating.

Slowly, but surely, the vehicle started to right itself. After the vehicle made a few more violent jerks across the floor, it started to 'find its feet' and eventually got back on all four wheels. Moynihan wiped her brow and looked up at the mirror in the center of the front of the vehicle. She could see the children's faces. They were a mixture of fear and relief. Max, Rodger, and Buzz placed their hands on their chests and breathed in deeply and quickly, trying to settle down their speeding hearts. Caruso was still clinging to Fiona and it didn't look like he was going to let go anytime soon. Fiona didn't seem to mind and continued to hold him.

"No...no..." Caruso whispered.

"Shhh..." Fiona whispered, trying to comfort him. Caruso didn't look up at her, just continued to hold onto her, afraid to let go. Fiona looked at him sympathetically, anger building up inside of her towards the man responsible for Caruso acting this way: Victor.

Suddenly, there was another violent crash against the side of the SUV. It rocked violently to one side, but luckily didn't move far enough to cause it to roll across the floor like a barrel. As soon as the violent rocking had subsided completely, Moynihan saw another turn off. It was still out in the open, but she knew the helicopter was moving too fast to make a perfect turn, so maybe turning suddenly herself could throw Victor off a little and buy some time. As soon as the road came up, she turned the wheel to the left, turning quickly to get on the new road.

Just as she predicted, the helicopter sped several feet away from her before it finally turned. The additional feet had given her some more space between her and Victor. She pressed on the gas pedal again and started to move a little faster. She looked at the speedometer and realized the SUV was getting close to its maximum speed now. Her eyes widened and she looked in the mirror at the side of her car door again. Victor had managed to pick up speed quickly and was now a few feet behind her and getting closer. She struggled through her mind to figure out something she could do to buy more time or to get Victor off her tail.

She looked over towards the road they were once on briefly, just for a second, and she noticed there was a patch of trees over there that they could have hidden in. She slapped herself in the face with one hand and muttered something under her breath. What a fool she was! She could have just continued on ahead and lose Victor in the trees! Oh well, there was nothing she could do about it, she thought. She squinted her eyes to try and see what was ahead of her. It was hard to see in the darkness. She could see faint lights so she knew they were getting closer to civilization. Maybe that would ward Victor away. He wouldn't want to draw attention to himself, so he would veer off in another direction to avoid suspicion. But if he's persistent enough, he might just go in a different direction and just cut them off by surprise. Moynihan closed her eyes and wondered if she would be able to save the students.

Rodger looked out of his window and could see Victor lowering down near his side of the SUV. He narrowed his eyes as he saw Victor moving in to ram the vehicle. He immediately rummaged through a large bag he had with him in the front passenger seat. He soon felt the item that he was looking for. He pulled it out, revealing the Spiller. Rodger held the large blue gun in one hand and used the other to roll down the window. As Victor came in closer to try a sneak attack, Rodger readied the gun. He looked over at Moynihan, who glanced back at him, her eyes on the gun. She opened up her mouth to say something, but Rodger put a finger to his lips, telling her to be quiet. Although a little surprised, Moynihan complied and focused on the driving.

Rodger looked out the window again. He waited for Victor to get within a certain distance. He knew he would only have a couple seconds, if even that, to shoot Victor. The Chiller wouldn't hurt him, but it would do something else that just might save them. When he thought Victor was close enough, he immediately leaned out of the window, the Chiller readied in his hand. Moving as quickly as he could, he lifted the gun up towards the front window. Taking careful aim, he pressed the button. Suddenly a thick white cloud that looked like steam shot out from the nozzle. It made direct contact with the front window on Victor's helicopter. While the substance was mostly gas and wouldn't cling very long to the surface of the copter, it had already almost completely fogged up the front window, and with the addition of the darkness of the night, this almost completely blinded Victor, but it wouldn't last very long.

Startled by this sudden attack, Victor pulled the stick back and pulled up towards the sky. The fog blurred the vision he had towards the front. He could still see at the sides, but that wouldn't do him much good in this situation. He kept the helicopter as level as he could until the fog cleared up, which only took about a minute or so. But once it cleared away, he couldn't see any signs of the SUV. It had completely disappeared. Victor remained baffled for about a minute, and then he looked behind the helicopter. He narrowed his eyes slightly. The SUV had completely stopped and turned and was now moving in a completely new direction, back towards where they had started. The Dino Squad were pretty clever trying that trick.

He contemplated chasing them some more, but figured he should just let them think they've won. Smirking to himself, he turned his copter and headed back towards Raptor Dyne. He looked down at the radar and looked at one dot in particular, the SUV. Victor had created a jamming signal around his helicopter that completely masked his signal while it allowed him to see where the Dino Squad was. This was why they were not able to detect his presence until he had rammed into them. "Right back at ya, Joanne.." He said to himself. "Caught in your own trap..."

As soon as Victor disappeared into the horizon, the Dino Squad each let out a sigh of relief. They each started to calm down, her hearts now beating so fast they thought they were going to explode. Caruso shivered for a few more seconds, but as he realized that the danger had passed, he let go of Fiona, smiling nervously, as if he felt embarrassed for acting like he had. He tried to say something, but no words came out. Instead he just looked away, almost afraid to look back at Fiona.

"Is something wrong, Caruso?" Fiona asked, confused as to why Caruso suddenly moved away from her and wasn't looking at her now. He seemed a little afraid, but of what? She thought it was of Victor, but he had just left. They had escaped him. Could Caruso be afraid of Victor coming back later on and getting him?

"N-Nothing is wrong..." Caruso said quickly without looking at her.

But Fiona wasn't fooled so easily. Caruso's voice was still stammering, still filled with fear. She could tell. She would have tried to move closer to the boy, but she had her seat belt on and she wasn't going to unfasten it until they got back at the lighthouse. It was for safety purposes. So instead she reached out with one hand and placed it on Caruso's shoulder. Immediately, the boy gasped and tensed up. Fiona immediately pulled her hand away, shocked at Caruso's reaction. He'd never done that before, especially when he knew someone was there with him.

"Are...you sure you are all right?" Fiona asked, concern in her voice.

Caruso quickly said, "Yes! I'm fine!" Fiona was startled at Caruso's sudden snapping and Caruso immediately regretted talking with such force. He yelped in pain and placed his hand carefully on his mouth. Tears of pain dripped from his eyes and he stifled a louder scream.

"Caruso..." Fiona's lower lip quivered a little as she watched Caruso be in such pain. She wanted to reach out to him and comfort him. But she kept her hand back, afraid she would only frighten him more. She closed her eyes and turned her head away, hiding tears of her own.

Up in the front seat, Moynihan cast a glance towards Rodger. "That was a risky move, Rodg." She scolded him, eyes narrowed slightly. "It could have easily back fired on you. Do you realize that?" Rodger didn't say a word, just nodded his head once. He didn't look very guilty though. He seemed convinced that he had done the right thing, and it worked anyway. Moynihan accepted this knowledge. She couldn't stay too upset with Rodger for very long. "Though I admit, that quick thinking did save us all. Thank you." She offered a small smile.

Rodger smiled back. "Don't mention it, miss!" The smile faded as he placed the Chiller back in the bag. He sat back in the chair and looked out of the window. He asked almost absentmindedly, "So are we going to a hospital? Caruso does need those wounds treated and I'm not sure if we have the right material for that."

Joanne shook her head. "No. We're heading straight for the lighthouse."

Rodger snapped his head towards her, shocked. "But, Ms. Moynihan..we..."

Joanne held up a hand. "I know, dear. But I don't think we should risk it. They might need to take blood samples and discover he has dinosaur DNA. Then he might be in for a far worser fate than he had with Victor back there. No, we must treat him at the lighthouse. I'll go out and buy medication and whatever else we need." She glanced towards Rodger. "Besides, even if that was not a factor, I do not think that it would be a good idea to take him to a hospital. Not now." Moynihan glanced back at Caruso as she said this, trying to see if he was listening in on them.

"Why?" Rodger asked, trying to sound as calm as possible. He didn't want Moynihan to know he was starting to feel a little angry with her. A hospital would provide faster help. For a brief second, he didn't care that they would draw blood from the boy. They would at least help him get better faster than he and his friends could.

"Because, Rodger, look at him. He's clearly been through a lot. A hospital might only make him feel worse." Joanne Moynihan explained. "And he might panic, and end up hurting himself even more. I want to take him to the lighthouse for his own good. Being surrounded by family and friends might help him recover faster."

"Oh.." Rodger said, understanding where Moynihan was coming from. "That makes sense."

Moynihan looked out the window briefly. It was still dark out, but in the distance she could make a very faint hint of light. It was going to be dawn in a couple hours. She really should allow them to get some sleep. The kids must be very tired by now. She looked over at Rodger. "Hey, why don't you and the others get some sleep?" She asked, smiling sweetly at Rodger. "You poor kids have been up all night. Get some rest."

"But..." Rodger started to say. "I don't think..." Moynihan held up a hand to silence him before he could finish his sentence.

"No buts. I insist." Moynihan said gently but firmly. She turned her head to look at the other students in the SUV. When she got their attention, she said, "You kids get some sleep now. You've had a hard day. I'll wake you up when we get back to the lighthouse." The students nodded and tried to get comfortable in their seats. As they settled down to get some sleep, Caruso remained awake. He looked down at the floor, staring at nothing in particular. He was at a loss of what to do. Moynihan noticed his confusion. "Caruso? Aren't you going to sleep?"

"S-S-Sure..." Caruso said softly and slowly. "...I-I'll...just wait a little while f-fi-first..."

"All right... but please try to get some shut eye, all right, dear boy?" Moynihan said.

"Don't worry...I-I will..." Caruso smiled. When Moynihan looked away, his smile immediately faded away. Moynihan hadn't turned the radio on. It was almost dead quiet in the SUV now. He folded his arms against his chest carefully. He started to shudder a little as the silence seemed to surround him from all corners. He started to feel his heart race in his chest, and his breathing started to quicken. Suddenly he wanted to be close to someone, anyone. He looked for Rump, but the dog was sleeping in Max's lap. He didn't want to disturb the little mutt.

Then he glanced over at Fiona. Fiona's eyes were closed, but Caruso knew no one could fall asleep that fast. He struggled with deciding what he wanted to do. He didn't want to admit it, but he was scared. He was scared out of his mind and he wanted comfort. Every time he closed his eyes, he could still see Victor's haunting face, laughing at him and his pain. He didn't want to disturb Fiona, though, and he wondered what she might think if he got too close to her.

Finally making his decision, Caruso scooted over towards Fiona, careful not to disturb her. He got close enough to where his side was touching hers, softly, almost barely. He started to settle down a little and he leaned back in the seat. After a few minutes, he managed to close his eyes. But he immediately opened them up again after seeing Victor's face again. He stifled a scream and almost instinctively moved even closer to Fiona, almost knocking into her. Worried, he looked over at her face, but her eyes were still closed and there was no sign of a reaction. Satisfied that he hadn't disturbed her, he leaned forward in the seat and made a little distance between him and Fiona.

He leaned back again and looked up at the car ceiling as thoughts ran through his mind. What were his parents going to think when they see him in this condition. He could feel his stomach tie in a knot as he imagined his parents shocked and horrified reactions. He also wondered if they were going to take him off the team. He glanced at the people in the vehicle and hoped that they would not make him leave. He still cared about his friends and Moynihan. He didn't want to leave them. He could only hope that, if this should arise, he could convince them to let him stay on the team. But that might be a hard thing to do. His parents can be hard to convince when it comes to his safety. His parents might want him to be happy, but if his life is at stake, it is usually about what would make them feel happy. And if their mind is set on a way to keep him safe, they'd try to keep it that way and it would be hard to convince them otherwise.

After waiting for another couple minutes, he relaxed enough to close his eyes again. This time he did not see Victor, just the usual darkness behind his eye lids. He took in a few deep breaths and allowed much needed sleep to take over. As Caruso slipped into unconsciousness, Moynihan glanced back quickly to see how the kids were doing. She smiled softly as she saw they were all trying to get to sleep, just like she had suggested. She turned her attention back on the road, mentally scolding herself for continuously taking her eyes off the road while she was in the driver's seat. She tried her best not to think about Victor and instead tried to focus on getting back to the lighthouse as soon as possible. She knew Caruso's life depended on it.

She didn't want to tell the kids, but there were a few injuries on Caruso, particularly his mouth, that could cost him his life if they were not treated properly. She did briefly consider going to a hospital, but for the same reasons she had told Victor, she decided against it. She had never treated these kind of injuries before, though, and she wondered if she had made the wrong decision. What if something were to go wrong...?

"I shouldn't think that now..." Moynihan told herself. "I must get back to the lighthouse..." With that she shut her mouth and focused on getting to the lighthouse as soon as possible. All the while she started to wonder how Caruso's parents would react. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to handle the heartbreak they were going to feel when they see, for themselves, just what happened to their son. But there was no turning back. And to deny them to see their son would be just cruel.

As Moynihan continued to drive along the road, Fiona slowly opened up her eyes. She tried to move, but felt something a little heavy on her. She looked over to see what it was and saw Caruso, leaning against her. His head was against the seat, but some of his body was pushing up against hers. Her eyes widened a little, and her first instinct was to push him away to give herself some space. But quickly remembering Caruso's condition, she refrained from doing so. She reached over and gently pushed a strand of hair from Caruso's face. Caruso moved his head a little and he let out a sigh. But he didn't open up his eyes. "Sleep well." She whispered.

She smiled softly as she watched Caruso, for the first time since his capture, looking so peaceful and calm. Fiona thought about putting her arm around him, but she didn't want to wake him up. Plus, she didn't want to scare him again. She slowly pressed her head back down and tried to get some sleep. She was feeling very tired now and she wanted to get some shut eye before they got back to the lighthouse. And perhaps some sleep will help calm down their nerves. She slowly closed her eyes and let out a soft content sigh. Slowly, sleep overcame her. Darkness enveloped her senses, and eventually she slipped into unconsciousness, just like Caruso had just a couple minutes ago.

Suddenly a bright light shined in her eyes. She squinted and groaned, turning away from the light as best as she could. Then she felt someone grip her shoulder and shook her gently. Moaning in frustration, she slowly opened up her eyes and looked up. Her vision was blurry for a few seconds, but as it came into focus, she recognized the face of Max. Fiona brushed back a hair on her face and groaned, "Oh..what do you want, Max? I'm tired..."

"Wake up." Max insisted, shaking her a little harder.

Fiona didn't realize just how long she'd been asleep. It felt like she'd only been sleeping for a few minutes, but a few hours have already passed. The SUV was pulled up against the lighthouse, next to Caruso's parents' car. The SUV itself was empty except for Fiona, Caruso, and Max. She pushed his hand away and growled softly, "Just let me get to sleep...why do you want to wake me up?"

"Fiona..we're here." Max explained. He reached out to grab her arm, but thought better of it. "The others are inside the lighthouse already. Moynihan sent me out to wake you and Caruso up." Then an almost creepy smile crept onto his face. "Although I have to admit, it was difficult for me to mess up this...romantic moment." He chuckled softly.

Fiona, still not fully awake, simply laid her head back down and muttered, "What do you mean romantic...?" Then memories started to flood back to her and she remembered just where Caruso was when she had fallen asleep. Her eyes immediately opened up wide, and she jolted up. She quickly looked to her right and saw Caruso was leaning up against her, just like before. But this time, his head was resting on her shoulder. Shocked, she looked back up at Max, who continued to smile at her.

"That is what I meant." Max grinned, pointing at the sleeping teenager.

"This isn't what it looks like..." Fiona quickly said, trying to defend herself. She was almost tempted to push Caruso off of her, but she stopped herself. Max continued to smile at her, the look on his face telling her he didn't believe her. "I-I was just trying to comfort him and..." She stammered, trying to think of something to say to make Max stop smiling at her like that.

"It's okay Fiona. You don't need to explain." Max said, holding up his hand. "Anyway, wake up Caruso and come into the lighthouse. His parents would like to see him." He pointed his thumb towards the lighthouse as he said that. His smile faded away as he pushed himself out of the SUV to make room for Fiona and Caruso to get out. He remained close by though, just in case Caruso might need more help getting out. He could barely walk on his own earlier, needing at least one other person to help him into the SUV.

Fiona scooted as close as she could to the side, despite how little room there was for her to move around, and reached over and gently gripped Caruso's shoulder. She shook it firmly but carefully and called out his name. "Caruso? Caruso!" When he didn't respond, she shook a little harder. Her persistence paid off eventually when Caruso cracked open one eye just barely and looked up at her. "Caruso, we're at the lighthouse now. It's time to get up." She told him, smiling softly.

Caruso responded by putting his head back down and turning away from her so that his back was facing her. Groaning a few times, he grumbled, "Oh..can't it wait? Just a few more minutes..." He closed his eyes again and attempted to get to sleep again. But Fiona wasn't about to give up.

She gripped Caruso slightly tighter and shook him even more, careful not to hurt him. When Caruso didn't respond, she pulled him over so he was facing her and continued to shake him. "Caruso, get up!" She said, almost demandingly. "You don't want to keep your parents waiting, do you?" She asked firmly, shaking him a little harder. She wasn't about to let Caruso go back to sleep, in spite of how tired he must have been.

Upon the mention of his parents, Caruso's eyes snapped open and he looked up at Fiona. All of a sudden, he looked alert, straightening himself up in the car seat. "My parents...?" He said slowly, his voice full of disbelief. He had longed for his parents all the while he was with Victor. He felt terrible for what they must have been through. He wanted to talk to them, assure them that he was all right. He didn't want them to worry anymore. "My parents are here...?"

"Yes... They are here." Fiona said solemnly. Running a finger through her hair, she started to explain to Caruso what happened after his capture. "After you were captured, we..called your parents and told them what happened. Oh, Caruso, they've been so worried about you! We felt terrible that we couldn't make them feel any better. They'll be so happy to see that you are okay."

Caruso looked away, eyes closing slowly and tightly. "But..I'm not okay..." He said, his voice full of sorrow. Suddenly he didn't feel like he was all right. He could feel that something was wrong. He could not put his finger on it, but something was very wrong. Sensing Fiona's concern, he turned his head towards her. "I-I am sorry if I'm w-w-worrying you, Fiona..." He struggled to say through the pain in his mouth. "I-I-I just c-c-c-can't shake this feeling that this i-isn't over... Wh-What will my p-parents think if something else were to h-h-happen...?" He could feel tears forming in his eyes.

"Caruso..." Fiona started to say, but she wasn't sure what to say. Seeing that Caruso wanted to say more, she closed her mouth and permitted Caruso to continue.

"A-And what are they g-going to think when they s-s-see how I l-look now...?" Caruso said in a shaky voice, looking himself over and seeing all the injuries on his body. He dare not look in the mirror towards the front of the vehicle. He didn't want to see all the cuts on his once handsome face, and he was sure his parents would not want to see it either. And that was not the only thing he was worried about. "Wh-What if they t-take me away from you guys...? What i-i-if they t-take me off the t-team..?" He stammered, his eyes filled with fear and apprehension. "I-I don't want to b-be separated from you guys...n-not again..."

Fiona's eyes widened a little as Caruso told her this. She had almost forgotten just how much Caruso wanted to please his parents and make them happy. His love for his parents felt stronger than other child-parent relationships she's seen in the past. She couldn't help but feel sorry for the boy, not just for fear of how his parents might react to his condition, but also for the pain he must have been through while he was with Victor Veloci. "Oh Caruso..." She whispered, reaching out towards him and gripping his hand. "It's..it's going to be okay." She wasn't sure if this was true or not, but she was hopeful it would be. "We'll convince your parents to let you stay...I promise."

Caruso struggled to smile, but the pain in the corners of his mouth caused him to yelp in pain. So instead he showed his gratitude towards Fiona's comfort by wrapping his arms around and her and giving a weak hug. "Th-Thank you..."

Fiona smiled and opened up her mouth to reply, but Max's voice stopped her.

"Hey, are you two going to come out or sit there and have a romantic moment?" Max said in a teasing voice. Although he could easily see the two were talking inside the car, he wasn't hearing much of what they were saying. He did pick up a word or two, but for all he knew, they were probably talking about going on a date. While he didn't show it, he did feel a little jealous. For a while, he himself did have a crush on Fiona. But he cared about his friends deeply, and if this made them happy, it would make him happy too.

"We're sorry!" Max heard Fiona say. "Sorry we kept you waiting."

Within about a minute, Fiona started moving towards the side door, which was still open with Max waiting just a few inches away. She had one arm around Caruso, supporting him as she led him towards the door. Caruso's steps were wobbly and shaky, and it looked like he was going to fall down any moment. If Fiona was not supporting him, he might have done so already. Carefully, she moved him towards the open door. Caruso slowly moved a leg forward to step onto the ground. But he quickly lost his footing and almost fell forward, but Fiona hung onto him and Max quickly grabbed the other, preventing him from falling down.

Working together, the two managed to carefully set Caruso onto the grass. As soon as his feet touched the ground, they slowly pulled their arms away, looking at him worriedly. They weren't sure if he was going to be able to walk on his own. But they were willing to let him try again. They took a step back and, using their hands, gestured for Caruso to try and walk on his own. Irwin complied, and started to take a few shaky steps. He managed to last longer than he did last time, but the pain was still there, excruciating with every step. Eventually he couldn't take it anymore and he dropped down onto his knees, whimpering in pain.

Almost immediately, Max and Fiona were at his side. They each placed a hand on his back gently, speaking softly to him to help him calm down. They suddenly felt guilty for allowing him to walk on his own. It was clear that he was still in pain and having him walk when he barely recovered was not helping him heal any faster. They each gently gripped one of Caruso's arms and carefully pulled him onto his feet.

"Sorry, Caruso..." Max said. "We shouldn't have encouraged you to walk in your condition..."

"I-It's all right..." Caruso said, offering a small smile. "I-I'm not upset..."

Hearing Caruso telling them that he wasn't upset with them made Max and Fiona feel a little better. "That's good to hear..." Fiona said, trying to smile to make herself feel better, but she couldn't shake off her guilt completely. "But still..." She wanted to say more, but Max raised a hand to silence her. She immediately closed her mouth shut.

Max said, "Fiona..not now...please..." He gazed down at Caruso. "Let's just bring him inside..." Fiona simply nodded, not saying a word. With that, they started to help Caruso walk across the ground. Progress was slow but steady. Caruso still yelped in pain once in a while, but he was managing much better now that he had some support. As they neared the lighthouse, they all had the same thought in their minds, the same worry filling their every thought. What was going to happen when they got inside...? How were Caruso's parents going to react...?

Zoom slowly opened up his eyes and let out a low moan. His vision was very fuzzy for several moments. He was unable to distinguish many shapes or colors. Everything was almost like a haze to him. As his vision slowly started to adjust, he tried to move, but for whatever reason he was unable to move his arms. It felt like they were stuck behind his back. As his vision cleared up completely and his mind stopped feeling so fuzzy, he pulled harder, trying to dislodge his arms. He started to panic when he realized his arms were not moving. He could feel some material around his arms, binding them together behind his back. Someone had tied him up!

Zoom looked at his surroundings. His breathing started to quicken when he realized he was no longer in his apartment. The room he was in was rather plain with a deep shade of red. In front of him was a door, metallic in appearance. He couldn't see any door knob anywhere. Even if his arms were not bound, he probably would not be able to get out. Next to the door, he could see what appeared to be a speaker of sorts. He craned his head up and he could see a ventilation shaft right above him, closed up tightly. He then gazed at the floor. There was nothing to see except dirt and a few cracks.

He opened up his mouth and moved his lower jaw around, testing to see if he had been gagged. There was nothing stuffed into his mouth and nothing covering his lips. Once he realized he wasn't gagged, he let out a deep sigh and gazed at the ground. Unlike his arms, his legs were not bound in any way. Wanting to stretch his legs, he started to get up off of his seat. But as he did so, the material binding his arms together started to glow. Almost instantly, a wave of electricity shot through his body. He screamed in pain and sat back down. The electricity immediately subsided. It only lasted for a few seconds, but his body wouldn't stop trembling for several minutes. He gritted his teeth as he realized this must be the reason why his legs were not bound at all.

Settling back down on the somewhat uncomfortable chair, he looked around the room again. He glanced up at the speaker and squinted his eyes a little. He could see what looked to be a small camera mounted on top, something he had missed the first time he scanned the room. He growled softly, eyes narrowed and teeth bared. He didn't like the idea of someone watching his every move. He wondered just how was watching him and if they were the ones who shocked him as soon as he got up off the chair. Whoever was watching them, what was holding them back? Why don't they show themselves? He wondered if he would ever see his captor, or if they would kill him before he could.

That thought brought about a whole horde of other terrible thoughts. What did his captor have in mind? Why had they taken him? Was he going to live or die? Was he going to be questioned or tortured, or both? Just who was his captor anyway? The last thing he could remember was sitting down on his computer desk. Then the next thing he knew, he woke up here. He shook his head, wanting so badly to rub it as he felt his head throbbing. He groaned again and shifted in the chair, trying to find a comfortable position.

As he did so, he heard a metallic clang. He lifted his head up right away. Looking in front of him, he could see the door starting to open up. It split down the center and each side started to pull into the wall. As soon as it opened up all the way, a dark silhouette appeared in the doorway. Zoom squinted his eyes, trying to figure out who it was standing there. The silhouette started to walk forward. As they stepped into the light, while they remained darkened, too shady for Zoom to figure out who it was, the shape itself revealed that it was, in fact, a woman.

Zoom's eyes widened as memories started to come back to him. Back at his apartment, he was suddenly visited by a mysterious woman who claimed to have been working for Victor. When he had turned his back on her, she must have clunked him on the head. He bared his teeth as he stared at the shadow before him in anger. His suspicions were confirmed when the figure pressed a switch and suddenly the room was lit up with a bright light and he could briefly see a glimpse of the same woman who visited him earlier in his apartment room. Zoom suddenly flinched, his eyes so narrowed that they were almost closed. The bright light was painful to his eyes, having adjusted to the darkness. When they eventually adjusted to the bright light, he opened up his eyes and gazed at the woman standing in front of him. He growled softly. This was definitely the woman who was an unwanted visitor in his home.

"You..." Zoom hissed, wanting to get up and punch her.

Kista grinned arrogantly, lowering her head a little as she gazed down at the man. "My, oh my... you aren't happy to see me?" She asked in a teasing manner.

"Why have you brought me here?!" Zoom hissed, ignoring the woman's question. He struggled again for about a second before snapping, "Untie me NOW!"

Kista laughed coldly, touching a fingertip against the underside of Zoom's chin. "I'm afraid you are in no position to order me around, exquisite imbecile." Zoom flinched as Kista said that phrase. "From where I'm standing, I call all the shots here." She emphasized her statement by pulling out a small device with a large round button in the center.

Zoom smirked. "And from where I'm standing, you are an idiot."

Kista narrowed her eyes, resting her thumb on the button. "Do not tempt me, you simpleton..."

"Don't tempt you to what?" Zoom asked sarcastically. "Don't tempt you to keep saying words that don't make any sense to what you are actually trying to say?"

Eyes narrowed deeply, a sadistic smile spreading across her face, Kista pressed the button. Almost instantly, Zoom recoiled in pain as electricity was once again pumped through his body. Kista held the button down for several seconds, watching Zoom squirm in the chair. She released the button, and Zoom almost immediately slumped in his chair, shaking visibly as he stared at her in shock. He slowly eyed the device again and realized what it was for. It was controlling whatever was binding his arms.

"That was why you shouldn't tempt me, Zoomie boy." Kista said softly. She pressed her thumb on the button again and Zoom immediately snapped his head back, eyes closed tightly as he expected to be bombarded by more electricity. When none came, he looked up at her, eyes narrowed again. "And I suggest that, if you want to live...you don't anger me again, you benevolent barbarian."

Zoom opened up his mouth to ask Kista why she kept using big words that usually don't have much, if any, correlation to the current situation at hand. But he immediately shut his mouth, remembering the device she still held in her hand. She was right. If he did value his life, he wouldn't tempt her further by risking an insult. Thinking about what might happen to him if he pushed her over the edge caused him to involuntarily swallow hard. Kista seemed to be enjoying his fear, somewhat, and took a step forward. She placed an arm around the back of the chair he was sitting in and glanced down at him.

"Are you...afraid? Are you terrified? Are your teeth chattering uncontrollably?" Kista said, taunting him. Zoom gulped again and swiftly shook his head, trying to look as brave as he could. Kista's eyes narrowed slightly. "Well you should be afraid, my dear... You're in Victor's realm now."

"Victor?" Zoom looked around the room. "Is he here?"

"No...but he will be. So you better have a good excuse for coming here." Kista said.

"What are you talking about?" Zoom cried. "You brought me here!"

Kista laughed. "Well that is true..." She admitted, leaning her head towards his so they were right next to each other, only a couple inches apart. "But you know..I can be very convincing around Victor... And I am one of his most trusted henchmen. He's only seen you once before, if my superior memory is serving me right. But I doubt he'd remember you, and if he does, well, why would he believe you?"

Zoom struggled against his binds. "He has no reason to..."

"Oh no?" Kista pressed her face against his and delivered a harsh whisper into his ear. "You remember that edited photograph you gave to him, promising it would be worthwhile, but it turned out to be some kid? Do you? I'm sure you remember that!"

"The CD was switched! I swear it!" Zoom cried, trying to get away from Kista's grasp. But the woman only tightened her grip, not allowing the photographer to get away from her.

Kista snickered at Zoom's statement. She wasn't doubting what he was saying was true. She, in fact, believed him. But that wasn't the point she was trying to get across to him. He was clueless, this man. He has no idea what he might be in for. He has no idea just how vicious Victor could really be. She only knocked him out to bring him here so that he wouldn't know the exact location of this particular area. She had then decided to bind him and put him in his room for his own good, and to keep him from nosing around before Victor came back. She wasn't sure just how Victor would react to Zoom being here. If worse came to worse, they could always kill him. That's why she had the electrical restraints on him.

"That might be so..." Kista said, immediately releasing Zoom and moving away from him. "The CDs being switched might explain why you were confused. It would rule out acting, now wouldn't it? But..Zoom..." She turned around to face him, her face now serious. "Who do you honestly think he will believe? I worked for Victor for a good amount of time. Years even. I am one of his most trusted subjects. While you...you have never worked a minute for this guy and the only time you ever talked to him was during that edited photograph incident. Do you honestly think he'll believe anything you say? He'll trust me before he'll trust you.

Zoom moved his head back a little as he listened to her she was saying. She did have a good point. He had never worked for Victor before, and the only encounter he had with him only ended badly. If Kista were to say anything about what he did, Victor would surely believe her and consider him a liar. "So...what do you plan on telling Victor...?" He asked carefully.

Kista's grin reappeared on her face. "I'll tell him that you insisted in coming here and threatened to kill me if I didn't, so I complied and led you here."

"What?!" Zoom cried. "He'll know you were lying if he sees these binds on me! He'll know you took me here against my will!"

Kista shook her head slowly. "No he won't.. If he asks about the binds, I'll just tell him that you were becoming too violent and I had to restrain you."

"But...!" Zoom tried to say.

"But nothing..." Kista said. "Like I said, he'll believe me before he'll even think of believing what you say." She held out the device towards him again. "And just remember who is calling all of the shots, you little ignoramus bub.."

Zoom wanted to make a retort about Kista still being an idiot for using such irrelevant words, but eyeing the device in her hand and realizing he was still wearing the restraints made him have second thoughts. He slowly shut his mouth and hissed, "Fine...whatever." He turned his head to the side, not wanting to look at Kista. The very sight of her made him angry. He should have just pushed her out of the door and locked it when he had the chance. "So what do you plan on doing with me? Just keeping me tied up here?"

The woman shook her head. "No," Kista said. "I could not risk allowing you to know the location of this place. That is why I had to knock you out."

Zoom growled softly, wanting to rub the sore spot on the back of his head. "You could have just given me a warning..."

"Oh and where's the fun in that?" Kista grinned. "And if I told you, you would have dodged, now wouldn't you?" She didn't allow Zoom to answer. She quickly turned her back to him and went back towards the door. She looked through, trying to see if anyone had followed her there, or if anyone was close by. She was also keeping an eye out for Victor. If he found Zoom here without his permission, he'll go nuts. Victor worked hard in getting all this set up without anyone knowing, except those he allowed to know. And Zoom was not one of them. If he saw him there, he will not be very happy. He might even have Zoom killed just so that he won't go spread the word. Of course he might just let him go with a warning. That's what he did with Donald and Michael, the two boneheads who mistook Victor for one of the perfect dinosaurs. How they could possibly make a mistake like that was beyond her, not that she really cared.

"So..." Zoom started to say. "Are you going to untie me, or I am going to have to..." He immediately shut up when Kista whirled around all of a sudden and gave him a cold glare. Zoom snapped his head back, his eyes widened a bit, and he eyed the remote in Kista's hand nervously as her thumb pressed against the button again. Kista started to press the button a little harder. Gasping, Zoom quickly said, "No! Please!"

Kista smirked as she heard Zoom beg in such a panicked manner. She decided to ignore his pleads and pressed the button anyway for half a second, just enough to send a very brief wave of electricity through his body, just to shake him up a bit. She wanted to make sure that he knew she was in charge. But she didn't want to sink down to Victor's level and torture Zoom too much. She put the device away and walked over towards Zoom, standing right next to him. Zoom looked up at her with an expression of anger. "Don't look at me like that. You had it coming." She sneered.

"I asked you to stop and you shocked me anyway... why?" Zoom growled softly. "Just for the heck of it?" He couldn't understand why Kista had decided to shock him that time. He had asked her not to. No, he didn't ask. He had begged. He shuddered at the thought of being forced to do something so out of his character.

Kista narrowed her eyes. She was becoming annoyed with Zoom talking back to her like this. "Do you want another one?"

Zoom's eyes widened quickly and he shook his head rapidly. "No! No!"

Kista's frown was quickly replaced with a dark smile. "That's good... Just watch your mouth next time." She warned him, pointing an accusing finger at him. "I will not tolerate you talking back to me, and I will not tolerate you trying to threaten me or order me around. Do you understand me...?" Zoom growled softly but nodded his head to please her. Satisfied, she leaned in a little closer and playfully ruffled his hair with one hand. "That's a good boy." She teased playfully.

Feeling annoyed by what Kista was doing, Zoom pulled his head away from her, glaring at up at her but not saying anything to provoke her. Instead he decided to change the subject a bit and ask about Victor. He was curious to know when he might have a chance to speak to the guy. "Where is Victor?" He asked cautiously.

Kista looked up towards the ceiling and scratched her chin. "That is a good question..." She reached up and scratched her head as she started to think of an answer. "I don't really know." She finally said, shrugging her shoulders half-heartedly.

"What?!" Zoom snapped, shocked by what Kista said. She worked for Victor. Shouldn't she know where he was? She told him Victor was busy. She should know where Victor was and what he was doing. That's what Zoom himself believed anyway. "You are one of his henchmen. Shouldn't you know where he is? How can you not know?!"

Kista glared at Zoom. She didn't like the way he was talking to her. She thought she already talked to him about talking back at her. She was tempted to shock him again but figured he had enough of that for now. Besides, she wasn't out to break his spirit like Victor was with Caruso. She decided to ignore his attitude and said, "I might work for the guy, but that doesn't mean I know where he goes every second of the day! Sheesh, what do you think I do? Follow him around and keep a record of whatever he does?" She threw her arms in the air and continued to rant. "Do you want me to tell you how many times he goes to the bathroom? How many breaths he takes when he sleeps? How many calories he eats a day? How many times he blinks in twenty-four hours?"

Zoom cringed back in his chair as Kista ranted on him like this. He almost immediately regretted crossing her. He wondered why she hadn't shocked him that time. He almost thought about asking, but decided not to. He decided to consider himself lucky that she didn't shock him again. "I'm sorry. You didn't have to..." He stopped himself before he said something he would regret again.

"Just forget about it..." Kista raised her hand. "Perhaps it was a mistake to bring you here."

"What do you mean?" Zoom asked softly.

Kista glared at him. "If you keep up that attitude you had with me while talking with Victor, you are not going to last very long. He'll chew you up and spit you out! Victor doesn't tolerate that kind of behavior. Anyone who acts like that are either chased away or immediately put into their place." She explained. "So if I were you, if you still want to speak with Victor, stop talking like such a rufescent propensity."

Zoom flinched at Kista's odd phrase, but didn't comment on it. "Fine..." He said, lowering his head a little.

"Good..." Kista said. "Now..." She slung her arm around him and pulled him closer. "..let's talk business, shall we? I would love to hear more about your brilliant plan." She said sarcastically. "I'm sure a smart guy like you has more details to a plan such as this. So...complex..." Her voice lowered into a harsh whisper as she spoke into his ear again. "Or have you not figured out your plan entirely?" She asked teasingly. She moved her heard forward so that Zoom could see her face. A mischievous smile found its away onto her face. Zoom glared at her softly, but didn't make a response, nor did he attempt to. Kista's own eyes narrowed slightly as well. "Well...? Are you going to answer me or just give me the cold shoulder?"

"...did I mention the bomb?" Zoom asked out of nowhere. He had almost forgotten about this detail he had brought up with Peter earlier. When Kista shook her head, an almost sadistic smile appeared on his face. He spoke in a somewhat dark voice, hoping to frighten Kista a little, an attempt to get back at her for shocking him. "Well, imagine this. We plant a bomb somewhere, perhaps the middle of a city. Not a big bomb, but big enough to scare some people. Before we set it off, we lure those Dino Squad punks over near this location. When they are in just the right spot, BOOM! We set off the bomb. The dinosaurs get the blame."

Kista stared at Zoom for several minutes, her mouth having dropped open when Zoom revealed this part of the plan to her. Part of her wondered if this guy was joking. To use a bomb as part of the plan, it seemed like he was going too far. A bomb was way too risky. Even Victor would refrain from using such a device. If anyone was killed, that would draw more attention and the situation could be investigated. They could be tied to the scene of the crime and get arrested, and that was a risk she knew Victor was not willing to take. The other part of her sort of liked the plan. It was risky yes, but it might force the 'perfect dinosaurs' out of hiding and they might be a little easier to catch. Or so that is what Zoom would believe.

"Are you...nuts?" Kista finally said. "I mean...what if it backfires? Something could go wrong. I am not sure if Victor would want to take such a risk."

"Why not?" Zoom asked, still grinning. He was feeling a little satisfied that he had startled Kista somewhat. "It would...could help him catch the Dino Squad."

"Yes, but too many people might get hurt, or even killed." Kista explained.

"So?" Zoom asked, shrugging his shoulders as if it was no big deal to him.

Kista was taken aback by this. "What? You mean you don't care if some humans get hurt, or killed, in the process?"

"Why should I? Oh sure it would bother me if everyone was killed, but a few people?" Zoom chuckled. "Not as much. A minor setback is all it would be. After all, for the greater good, do we not all have to make sacrifices?" Zoom smiled as he remembered the time when he was willing to let that one singer get hurt just so he could get a good photograph of it. It was nothing personal, he had told her. It was just business.

"Victor wouldn't like it, I can tell you right now." Kista said, folding up her arms.

"Why? I thought he hated humans." Zoom asked.

"That is true, no doubt about that. But if we carried out such a plan and someone does get hurt..." Kista slowly shook her head. "..well they might not blame the dinosaurs. And they could tie this company to the attack. Victor would be into a lot of trouble and with how far he has gotten, I doubt he would want such a huge setback."

"He's rich. He could come up with some kind of cover-up, couldn't he?" Zoom asked, shrugging again.

"Well...I suppose..." Kista said, scratching her chin thoughtfully. "He is a very powerful business man, after all..."

Zoom nodded. "That's right... So if the public does suspect Raptor Dyne of foul play, Victor could just pin the rap on the dinosaurs. I know he can't convince them they put the bomb there and set it off, but he could find a way to make it look like the dinosaurs set it off somehow. Where the bomb would come from might be irrelevant...no wait it wouldn't." Zoom closed his eyes tightly as he tried to think of something he could do with the bomb's origin, how to explain it without putting the blame on Raptor Dyne. Then it came to him. He opened up his eyes and continued, "I've got it. We could say that Raptor Dyne was in pursuit of some kind of dangerous criminal who planted a bomb. They were about to apprehend the culprits and save the city, but then the bomb goes off when the dinosaurs show up. The company could blame the dinosaurs. The city would be outraged that these beasts caused such a tragedy to happen. And after all, who are they going to believe? Humans or some scaly beasts?"

Kista slowly blinked her eyes as she digested this new information. At first, she was at a loss of words. This plan did seem a little better than she thought it would have been. He seemed to have figured out a solution for the loopholes, unless there was one that he had missed. Perhaps she had misjudged him earlier. Maybe Victor would be interested in hearing this plan. "That plan sounds so...evil..so sneaky..." Kista said. She then leaned in closer to him, a dark smile on her face. "I like it..."

Zoom straightened up in his seat, holding up his head in an arrogant manner. "Well of course you like it." He said, smiling. "That's because I am a genius!"

Kista glared almost playfully at Zoom. Did he just call himself a genius? Yes, she admitted that the plan was devious, but that didn't make him a genius. In her eyes, it just made him smart, perhaps even lucky. She was the true genius in this room. She regarded herself as being smarter than almost everyone in Raptor Dyne. She is amused sometimes when they think she is joking, although she does become easily frustrated when her intelligence is not recognized. And she feels Zoom has not fully recognized it yet himself.

"You? A genius?" Kista asked, eyes slightly wider than they were just a second ago. She then burst out laughing, unable to hold it back. "Yeah right!"

"What's so funny?" Zoom asked, feeling very offended by Kista's sarcastic reaction to his statement. What did she know about being a genius anyway? She was just some arrogant woman who thought she was so smart just because she used big, complicated words. All it was doing was making herself look like an idiot! But he felt that he, himself, had a good reason to gloat about his intelligence. "Why are you laughing at me?"

"Because you are so funny, rubicund." Kista laughed, pulling her head back and stared up at the ceiling as she talked to Zoom. "You think you are so smart and such a genius. But your inferior intelligence cannot possibly match mine."

"I'll say." Zoom said, making Kista think, at first, that he was understanding where she was coming from and was agreeing with her. But when he continued, Kista quickly realized that this was not the case. Zoom narrowed his eyes, yet a dark smile came onto his face. Forgetting about Kista's previous warning, he decided to taunt Kista a little bit. "Your intelligence is about ten times worse than mine! Where did you learn to speak these words anyway? A geek convention?" He laughed.

Kista growled softly, forming fists with her hands as she straightened her arms at her side. "You better take that back, you peccant! If you do not, I shall...!"

"Or you shall what? Torture me with more of your so-called intelligence?" Zoom chuckled ignorantly.

It took all of her willpower and strength to keep herself from setting the shocker up higher and just killing this man right on the spot. She had second thoughts because she knew she would get into trouble with Victor if she killed him without his permission. And Zoom was a pretty popular photographer. His death would not go unnoticed. They might get unwanted attention and that was the last thing she and the others needed. But she still felt Zoom needed an attitude adjustment. He was just like many of the other people she has come in contact with. They feel they were superior and above everyone else. She straightened a few of them out, the ones that worked for Victor that is, which was only a small handful out of them all.

Perhaps it was time for her to straighten out Zoom. It was obvious the shocker was not working. She couldn't set it up to a higher setting without causing serious damage to him. If she were to do that and set him free, he might sue and inform the public of what she had done to him. She might end up on a wanted list or something. Instead, she had something else in mind, something she knew was going to work. Zoom might be cocky, but no matter how brave and smart he acted, he wouldn't be able to resist screaming once he got a load of this plan of hers. She grinned evilly at the thought. She delighted in the idea of revealing to Zoom one of her most heavily guarded secrets. This was going to be fun, she thought.

She knew she might get into trouble with Victor for doing this, but for something like this, she didn't really care. No one ever tells on her anyway. After all, who would believe them? She had been scolded by Victor about this before, but she didn't really care. She tried to explain to him that there was no danger in using this plan, since the people she does it with end up so scared they don't tell anyone, and even if they did, they would sound like a complete idiot anyway. But Victor was still such a spoiled sport. He didn't want her to do anything to jeopardize his plan, and to him, what she was doing was too reckless. But Kista decided to ignore what he said.

Kista moved away from Zoom and walked out in front of him. She backed up towards the door and tried to position herself almost in the middle of the space between Zoom and the door. "I didn't want to have to do this..but you left me no choice..." She hissed in a threatening tone, eyes narrowed dangerously.

Zoom, however, remained unfazed. "What are you going to do?" He asked half-heartedly. "Lecture me? Bore me to death? Use more of your smart words?" He laughed to himself, eyes closed, as he said that. He was starting to pity Victor for having this woman on his team. He was amazed that Victor hadn't gone crazy with this idiot walking around acting smart by using big words. He prepared himself for what Kista was going to do. He felt there was nothing that she could do that would really frighten him. There couldn't be anything worse she could do other than shock him, and if she wanted to kill him she would have done so already, wouldn't she? No, there was nothing she could do to surprise him.

But then, he felt a shadow cast over him. He thought this was unusual because there was nothing big enough in this room to block out the light completely. When he opened up his eyes, he gasped. Eyes bulged open up in fear as he stared at what laid before him, he quickly regretted when he said to Kista earlier. He cringed in his chair, shaking visibly. He couldn't think of anything to say. His mind was almost numb with fear. The only thing he could manage to do was what anyone would instinctively do when faced with this kind of situation. He screamed.

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!


End file.
